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A Couple Of Really Bad-Ass Porsches
black mamba
Registered Users Posts: 8,321 Major grins
Porsche burst upon the international racing scene in the '50s with the famous 550 Spyder. It quickly became known as a giant killer. It had a very small displacement engine.... but was also very lightweight overall, superbly engineered, and tougher than nails. The 550 shocked a lot of it's big-bore competition and launched Porsche into the top echelon of motor sports.
The following two Porsches represent a pinnacle achievement for the small German company. They are both examples of the legendary 935 models. From the later '70s to the mid '80s, this run of cars practically ruled the world in their class of racing.
This first red beauty is a 1979 935. It is, arguably, the most successful 935 to ever have raced.
It was entered in no less than 62 races. It ran at Le Mans 4 times ( finishing 2nd overall in '79 ), ran at Sebring 5 times ( winning in '83 ) and won the 24 Hours of Daytona in '81. Look closely at the name of the driver above the passenger door. Old " Cool Hand Luke " himself was one hell-of-a-good driver.
This next one is a 1980 935 K3 model. It too was very successful on the U.S. and international circuits. Running, and more importantly, winning, in the U.S. at Sebring, Laguna Seca, Paul Revere 250, Road Atlanta, Riverside, and Elkhart Lake. This car was damn near unbeatable.
The following two Porsches represent a pinnacle achievement for the small German company. They are both examples of the legendary 935 models. From the later '70s to the mid '80s, this run of cars practically ruled the world in their class of racing.
This first red beauty is a 1979 935. It is, arguably, the most successful 935 to ever have raced.
It was entered in no less than 62 races. It ran at Le Mans 4 times ( finishing 2nd overall in '79 ), ran at Sebring 5 times ( winning in '83 ) and won the 24 Hours of Daytona in '81. Look closely at the name of the driver above the passenger door. Old " Cool Hand Luke " himself was one hell-of-a-good driver.
This next one is a 1980 935 K3 model. It too was very successful on the U.S. and international circuits. Running, and more importantly, winning, in the U.S. at Sebring, Laguna Seca, Paul Revere 250, Road Atlanta, Riverside, and Elkhart Lake. This car was damn near unbeatable.
I always wanted to lie naked on a bearskin rug in front of a fireplace. Cracker Barrel didn't take kindly to it.
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Did they happen to have any of Tim Allen's cars there? If memory serves me correctly, he raced Ford Mustangs.
GaryB
“The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it!” - Ansel Adams
Thank you for the visit, Gary.
Paul Newman and Carl Haas did form Newman / Haas Racing. Only very recently, I believe, did Haas get out of racing. The " Peter Hurley " you mention is actually two individuals.....Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood. I had known Peter Gregg casually. His suicide was a great loss to racing. His protégé, Hurley Haywood, developed into the most-winning long-distance racing driver of all time. I've met and talked with Haywood on several occasions. He's still very competitive behind the wheel. Peter Gregg was, and Hurley still is, associated with Brumos Porsche here in Jacksonville. Some folks in town have established a rather extraordinary, very private, museum that's built around a number of significant cars that raced under the Brumos banner over the years.....not all of which are Porsches. BMW is also represented. Several pictures I took ( blown up fairly large ) of some of their stable of historic racing cars adorn a wall in the main display area.
Tom
Well done
I have a friend that lives outside of Jacksonville, and has been bugging me to come down for a visit. If that ever haooens, I'll have to give you a holler, and maybe we could meet up for some shooting!
The names I mentioned I was trying to remember from back in the 80's. Thanks for correcting me on Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood. Didn't Haywood and Holbert team up at one point? I was told that Holbert was one of the best as night time, and was a natural in the GTP cars. The only race I never made it to is the 24 Hrs of Daytona, which I want to attend some day. My favorite so far is the Sebring race. Alot of great memories!
Do you have any of the programs from the 80's Sebring race? If you do, if you look at some of the track peoples name you will find a name of Howard Tallon. He was the track maint. supervisor. He was a friend of mine and he was the one that got me hooked on that race! He even held the same posistion for the Miami Grand Prix and the Miami Indy race.
GaryB
“The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it!” - Ansel Adams
I had the same excitement when I had a chance to cruise through Jerry Woods Enterprises not too long ago. It's amazing to see all that history in one place.
Hey Rags,
Thanks for the kind words.
Tom
I appreciate the visit, Ian. It's always nice to share pictures and stories with those who have similar passions. In my case, it's been a lifelong affliction. I've been a car freak for as long as I can remember. Building my first hot rod with my dad when I was 16 was a real seminal period for me. My mother said I never had a chance....both she and my dad were incurable motor-heads. Our only family disputes centered around who had the fastest car at any given time.
Tom
Hehehe... Similar passions... In my teens, my girlfriend (now my wife) had a brother in law that owned a auto junkyard... Can you imagine what kind of candy store that was?
My projects at one time was 49 Ford biz coupe I chopped the top on, putting in a 50 Olds V8 into a 52 Studebaker (the Olds motor was pulled from 49 Merc, an earlier conversion)
then I turned to foreign cars... then motorcycles... Similar passions... yup
Thanks for dropping in, Quincy. I consider myself very fortunate to get around the cars and car people as much as I do.
Tom
Boy, Rags, I wish I had a dollar for each hour I've spent shifting through old auto junkyards.
That first hot rod my dad and I built ( in early 1957 ) was a '37 Ford that we chopped and channeled. We dropped in a 265 C.I. Chevy engine from a totaled '56 Bel Air. We went with twin quad carbs and had a custom header system made for us. We had a 4 speed manual tranny that had just been released by Chevy as a mid-year option on the '56 Corvette.
Passions....yeah, that's my world.
Tom
I would think so! A friend of mine is a big organizer for a group of BMW (primarily M3) enthusiasts, and he's asked me to do some shots for them. Any tips for me that you'd care to pass on? I'm certainly open to a PM, and I also understand if you just want to say: "google it"
I'm no expert, but I would suggest shooting some from very low to high; can lead to some interesting distortion
http://ragspix.smugmug.com/Photography/Photo-Bucket/5675014_wBvBDP#!i=1693766143&k=pRcKSqv
I had the pleasure of owning a Renault Megane II 2L, 4-door saloon model, 2008. A pretty far cry from the species here! Except... Renault has in the last 10yr put extreme focus on small format engine technology and sucking the max out of it with space-age engineering. As you describe Porsche doing! And... a Renault engine has been the culprit in many F1 wins/placings in the last 24mo. My Meg was indeed a plodder compared with the cars here, but a very surprising plodder in being responsive, manoeuvrable and stable beyond what its specs would lead you to expect! There are far more on-the-face-of-it desirable cars than the Meg, without even going near the level of the Porsches, but not all those by any means are as much a pleasure!
Thanks Tom!
Neil
PS Here's a shot (not mine) of one of the latest Renault Megane street offerings (because you in the US aren't so familiar with the marque). Please excuse me for taking the liberty, Tom.
Wikimedia Commons freely licensed media file
My Meg & shot
http://www.behance.net/brosepix
I'm not up to date with the latest but in 2005, Porsche had three different metallurgical formats for their engine blocks (supplied by Koblenz (?)); with two layouts, horizontal opposed 6 and V8
The the G3 had a steel piston sleeve, the 996 (911s) had a Scotch pad like device of silicone around the cylinders and the Cyenne V8 had silicone throughout the aluminum.
I had a 996 Cabrio and a Pepper (Cyenne). When towing a 6000 lb load, I had to keep it under 75 for fear my boat would get airborne
Sorry for the drift but I really liked those cars
Lensmole
http://www.lensmolephotography.com/
http://www.moose135photography.com
No apologies needed, Neil. You're always welcome to throw your 2 cents into the mix, pictures included. In my book, the more folks who chime in, the better. There's no such thing as too much car talk.
Take care,
Tom
Drift to your hearts content, Rags. Like I told Neil, car talk is never limited in my universe.
I never personally owned a Porsche. However, I was once a partner in a business that bought wrecked ones ( the 911 exclusively ), fixed them up beautifully, and sold them. They were all owned by our company but my partner and I took great liberties in keeping ones that we really liked in our own garages and driving them for quite a spell before we sold them.
Tom
The rear-engined Porsches require a very deft touch to keep them out of the ditches if you drive aggressively. That statement, though, applies much more to the earlier versions. Porsche has been successful, in the last couple iterations of the 911, in taming the car and taking a lot of the venom out of the car's handling characteristics. In fact, some of the most ardent Porsche fanatics are complaining that Porsche, in its efforts to bring benign handling to its latest 911, has robbed the car of its personality by taking away that sharp edge.
Tom
It's always great to hear from you, John. Thanks for the kind words.
Tom
Yup Toms spot on.
The term is oversteer. P cars used to have more single car rear ender's than any other car, especially when they went to turbo charging. Then their engineers spent some time at Subaru to understand how they handle their 4 wheel drive (in a light car). Now P cars has their 4 wheel mitigation, solving the oversteer issue of newbs.
It's pretty counter intuitive to gas when you're in the apex of a turn, but it works on P cars
I find that technique generally useful.
Neil
http://www.behance.net/brosepix