Gallery: Going Once, Going Twice: An Unreal Lot of Turbocharged Porsches
011995-porsche-911-gt2
1995 Porsche 911 GT2 -------------------- This is the most ordinary piece of extraordinary here. This 911 GT2 — essentially a customer car built for top-level sports-car racing — is relatively unimpressive technically, but a perfect example of Porsche's latter-day customer-competition-car philosophy. The 993-chassis 911 GT2 racing car (yes, there was [a street car](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_911_GT2)) was a purpose-built, turn-key competition machine, one Porsche was willing to sell to anyone with the right amount of cash. (Believe it or not, this is not always a given in top-level motorsport. When it comes to buying fast unobtainium, connections often matter more than money.) It was legal for FIA competition, among other things, and required little more than a talented driver and an engineer capable of dialing in a chassis at a race track. The 3.6-liter, twin-turbo boxer six was good for 450 horsepower. If you were of proper means, you could walk into a Porsche dealer, order one and then take it to Le Mans. And possibly win your class. This particular GT2 won its class at the 1996 12 Hours of Sebring and finished second in class at the 1997 24 Hours of Daytona. It was originally campaigned by Champion Porsche of Pompano Beach, Florida, and cost around $180,000. Drendel bought it in 2002 as a bookend to his collection — the GT2 remains the ultimate evolution of the air-cooled turbo 911. Plus, there's that wing. Who doesn't love big wing? It is expected to fetch $375,000 to $425,000. *Photo: Pawel Litwinski/Gooding & Co.*
021994-porsche-968-turbo-rs
1994 Porsche 968 Turbo RS ------------------------- The Porsche 968 was an evolution of the legendary 944, which was itself an evolution of the 924 coupe. If that doesn't make sense, think of it like this: In the 1970s, Porsche built a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive coupe using a lot of Audi parts and called it the 924. It was slow and kind of boring, so it eventually got more more development, more power and more style. Porsche called that car the 944. It, too, eventually grew old and boring, and so it received the same treatment, along with styling cues [from this thing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_928) and a new name: 968. Now, a lot of people never viewed this series of cars as "real" Porsches, largely because they're not air-cooled and rear-engined, and because they contain a lot of Volkswagen-Audi-group parts. This is silly. They're good, durable cars, and most of them drive well. But the "they aren't real Porsches" hype keeps prices low, unless you're talking about one of the few special models — the speed-oriented 968 Turbo S, the 968 Clubsport, and so on. This is one of the special ones. It is a 1992 968 Turbo RS, one of just four produced. The 3.0-liter, single-turbo four-cylinder makes 350 horses. It is the ultimate evolution of the front-engine, four-cylinder Porsche, and built strictly for competition. It makes more power than any other factory-built four-cylinder Porsche. The 968 Turbo RS was intended to compete in the German GT championship, and 100 examples were slated for construction. But both the series and the car fizzled, and just four were built. Drendel's car is the first of the bunch, the only 1992 model, and the car photographed for factory brochures. It ran at the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It has been restored. Auction Estimate: $250,000–$325,000. *Photo: Mathieu Heurtault/Gooding & Co.*
An Apollo CSM approaches an SAA spent-stage Workshop. Image: NASA031986-porsche-944-turbo-cup
1986 Porsche 944 Turbo Cup -------------------------- Call this the budget entry of the auction. As a model, the 944 Turbo Cup was built for a spec series — a racing series where all cars are identically prepared from a single model. Porsche whipped up the 944 Turbo Cup series in 1985 as a way to provide amateur racers with an easy entry into motorsport. (The auction catalog says "low-cost," but no spec series involving Porsches has ever been low in cost.) To make a Turbo Cup car, Porsche took what was essentially a production 944 Turbo and fit it with stiffer suspension, a magnesium oil pan, a smaller generator, a reinforced gearbox and a revised turbocharger. An eight-point roll cage, Recaro racing seat and manual windows were standard. The 2.5-liter four sported a single turbo and produced 250 horsepower at 6000 rpm. Drendel's car was campaigned in the IMSA Firehawk series. He bought it in 2008. With an expected price of $65,000 to $85,000, it's the bargain of the bunch. *Photo: Mathieu Heurtault/Gooding & Co.*
041984-porsche-962
1984 Porsche 962 ---------------- If you know Porsches, this car needs no introduction. Even if you don't know Porsches, chances are this thing looks vaguely familiar. It is a 1984 962 sports-racer colloquially dubbed the Holbert Racing Löwenbräu Special. It's widely considered the most successful and recognizable 962 in existence. The 962 was an evolution of the 956, Porsche's all-conquering Le Mans racer and all-around badass prototype. It was essentially a 956 modified to meet newer safety regulations — a slightly longer wheelbase, different driver placement, etc. — and outfitted with a few mechanical modifications. Like the 956, it cleaned up everywhere it went, and countless customer versions were produced. This car — that shape, [that noise](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlPecspdJlY) — quite simply *was* prototype racing in the 1980s. Drendel's car was the first 962 chassis to score a race victory. It won the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1986 and 1987, notched 15 overall wins between 1984 and 1987 and helped Holbert Racing rack up three championship seasons. It is car 962-103 with a 3.1-liter, single-turbo flat six good for 720 horsepower. It is the kind of thing that will make your toes itch. This is the first time it's been offered for public sale, and it is expected to bring $1.75 to $2.25 million. *Photo: Mathieu Heurtault/Gooding & Co.*
051981-porsche-924-gtp
1981 Porsche 924 GTP -------------------- This 1980 Porsche 924 GTP is the third of just four built. It was, effectively, a competition version of the 924 Turbo. Its single-turbo, 2.0-liter four made 320 horsepower. This particular car was Porsche's American entry at Le Mans in 1980, where it finished 13th overall with Derek Bell and Al Holbert at the wheel. It finished that well despite losing a cylinder partway through the race; the car once ran as high as fifth overall. After its factory time ended, this particular car was shipped to Holbert Racing in Pennsylvania, where it served as a template for a limited run of IMSA and Trans-Am racing cars. It eventually made its way to Portland, where it saw service as a club racer (!) before being sold and restored to Le Mans specs. It is the only ex-factory Le Mans 924 GTP in private hands. Apropos of nothing, those fat fenders are spectacular. Want it? Be prepared to pay $450,000 to $600,000. *Photo: Mathieu Heurtault/Gooding & Co.*
061976-porsche-935-76
1976 Porsche 935 ---------------- The Porsche 935 we just mentioned? This is the first one—chassis #930-570-0001. It was the prototype used for all testing and development work, and the first Porsche to carry a 930-prefix chassis number. It was a direct evolution from the RSR Turbo 2.14, but it produced more power — most estimates put the figure close to 600 horsepower, though as much as 630 was available for short bursts. The 2.9-liter boxer six sported Bosch mechanical fuel injection, a single turbo, and a four-speed gearbox. The 935 was a lot of things — ballsy, outlandish in appearance and moderately frightening — but above all, it was fast in a straight line. Formula 1 driver Jochen Mass drove this car at Paul Ricard in 1976 during an F1 test. His thoughts were later published in *Road & Track*: "During early-season testing at Paul Ricard, I had the Turbo on the track at the same time that some Formula 1 cars were practicing. In the turns, the Formula 1 cars could pass the Turbo, but once I caught them in the straights, I could pass and pull away." Chassis 935-001 has never been restored, but it's also the only ex-factory 1976 935 in private ownership. The model came to dominate Group 5 racing, and this car kicked it off. Drendel bought it in 2009. Bidding is expected to reach $1.7 to $2 million. *Photo: Pawel Litwinski/Gooding & Co.*
071976-porsche-934
1976 Porsche 934 ---------------- In 1975, once the RSR Turbo 2.14 had proven its worth, Porsche moved on. The turbocharged 935 model that followed was the company's Group 5 entrant; Weissach used lessons learned from the experimental 2.14 to create an all-conquering monster. That the 935 won races since its inception — and continued to do so for years — is a testament to the development time Porsche put into the model. The cars weren't quite bulletproof, but they were close, and hellaciously fast. This is not that car. Group 5 was for so-called "special" sports cars, or limited-run prototypes like the Ford GT40. Group 4, the class beneath it, was more production-based. The cars there owed a great deal more to the street machines they were based upon. This car is a 1976 934, built for Group 4. The 934 was essentially a turbocharged version of the [Porsche 911](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/2011/07/porsche-revives-the-passion/) RSR, a mildly modified (at least by racing standards; the 934 was still largely a track-spec beast) version of the 930, the first production 911 Turbo. Just 31 were built, and all were equipped with an aluminum roll cage; a turbocharged 3.0-liter engine good for 530 horsepower; 917 brakes and extensive chassis upgrades. Acceleration to 100 mph took 12 seconds, and top speed was around 190 mph, both dependent on gearing. Drendel's 934 is the second of the 31 934s built for 1976. It was the first 934 to capture a Group 4 win, and it won its class at Le Mans in 1982. It competed successfully for seven seasons, making it one of the longest-running 934s actively campaigned. It's been called the most successful 934 to ever race in international competition. This car, 934 #930-670-0155, has had just two owners in the last 25 years. It was originally painted that outrageous orange. Which is kind of awesome. It is expected to go for between $800,000 and $1 million. *Photo: Pawel Litwinski/Gooding & Co.*
081974-porsche-rsr-turbo-carrera-2
1974 Porsche RSR Turbo ---------------------- This is a 1974 RSR Turbo 2.14, just one of just four constructed. It produces some 450 horsepower from a 2.1-liter flat six with a single turbocharger. It is one of the [most important 911](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/reviews/2012/01/porsche-911/all/1)s ever built. This is the first factory-built turbo competition 911. Not the first car, but the first model. Porsche built four Martini-liveried works RSR Turbos, and this is number two. This was how the Porsche factory began turbocharging 911s, with a much-modified RSR 3.0 built to compete in FIA Group 5 sports-car racing. Its turbocharger was an experiment, and its success made a case for the Porsche 930 (the first production 911 Turbo) and every forced-induction Porsche that followed. Drendel's car, known as R9, was built to compete in the 1974 Group 5 championship. After being tested at Le Mans, Monza, and Spa, it made its competition debut at the Nürburgring 1000 Kilometers in May, 1974. The car has never been restored and has spent the majority of its life on display — because it was a testbed for much of the 911 Turbo's development, it contains numerous running modifications made by the factory, almost all of which haven't been touched since their installation. The paint is original, chipped in places, and gloriously worn. Porsche sold R9 to American collector Dr. William Jackson in 1974; at the time, the car had just 5,500 kilometers on the clock. Drendel purchased it in 2003. Pardon us while we wipe the drool off our shirts. The car is expected to command $1.75 to $2.25 million. *Photo: Pawel Litwinski/Gooding & Co.*
091973-porsche-917-canam-spyder
In the world of car auctions, there are sales, and then there are Sales. Consider this one of the latter: On Friday, Gooding & Company will auction an 17-car lot of turbocharged [Porsches](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/tag/porsche/) known as the Drendel Family Collection. The sale is nothing short of a landmark. The man who owned this collection, [Matthew Drendel](http://youtu.be/jHAD5Y2fZwU), was just 35 when he died in 2010. At the time of his death, he had amassed what is widely considered one of the most significant collections of turbocharged Porsches ever assembled. Many of these cars have never before been offered at auction, and flipping through the sales catalog offers what is essentially a potted education in the history of blown Porsches. We've selected 10 to showcase here, based on nothing more than personal preference. 1973 Porsche 917 Can-Am Spyder ------------------------------ It is a testament to Drendel's taste that this car isn't the most important or even the most impressive machine in the lot. This is a 1973 Porsche 917/30 Can-Am Spyder. It is one of just six built, and in current trim, it produces around 1,200 horsepower at 8,000 rpm. That's not a typo. It's also not everything. As the car's auction listing states, "with boost turned up, over 1,500 hp was achievable." (The 1,200 ponies come at just 1.4 Bar of boost.) As insane as that number might be, take a look at these: 60 mph arrives in 2.1 seconds, 100 in 3.9, 200 in 13.4. Top speed was more than 240 mph. Crash protection was nonexistent, and the fiberglass bodywork fit over a framework of spindly steel tubes and sheet aluminum. Call it the most dangerous, most powerful steamroller of a road-racing car ever built, and you'd be making the understatement of the century. The Can-Am 917s were the ultimate evolution of Porsche's all-conquering 917 sports-racer, the car that took the marque to [its first Le Mans win in 1970](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Porsche_917C.jpg), and essentially cemented the brand's dominance of European sports-car racing. But where the Le Mans 917s were built to a relatively rigid formula, the Can-Am 917s were effectively drawn on a clean slate. They were designed to compete in the [Sports Car Club of America's Canadian-American Challenge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can-Am), a series that was as close to a free-for-all as modern motorsport has ever seen. The 917/30 was the ultimate evolution of the model, a car so powerful and well-developed that it all but killed the series in which it was designed to compete. This particular car didn't see period Can-Am competition; it was sold new to Australian Porsche importer Alan Hamilton and spent most of its life in a showroom. Porsche AG purchased it from Hamilton in 1991 and refinished it in the Sunoco livery that Roger Penske's eponymous team used in 1973. Penske's group was Porsche's de facto factory Can-Am team; his chief driver, engineering legend Mark Donohue, is essentially responsible for the 917's greatness. (If you have even the barest interest in fast cars and motorsport, [read this](http://www.amazon.com/Unfair-Advantage-Mark-Donohue/dp/0837600693/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329569982&sr=1-2); it details the 917/30's fascinating development, including the parts where the car almost killed Donohue and overpowered the first dynamometer it was strapped to. Through months of development, Donohue turned a very fast pig's ear into a silk purse.) Expect this one to bring $3.25 to $4 million. *Photo: Pawel Litwinski/Gooding & Co.* <script src="http://admin.brightcove.com/js/BrightcoveExperiences.js" type="text/javascript"></script><object class="BrightcoveExperience" id="myExperience1492485501001"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"></param> <param name="width" value="660"></param> <param name="height" value="423"></param> <param name="playerID" value="3698508001"></param> <param name="publisherID" value="1564549380"></param> <param name="isVid" value="true"></param> <param name="dynamicStreaming" value="true"></param> <param name="@videoPlayer" value="1492485501001"></param></object><script type="text/javascript"> runMobileCompatibilityScript('myExperience1492485501001', 'anId'); </script><script type="text/javascript">brightcove.createExperiences();</script> A 917-30 in action. UPDATE, 3:10 p.m. EST: Gooding & Co. just informed us that a car has been dropped from the auction, so the lot now stands at 17 vehicles. We've updated the post accordingly.
101997-porsche-gt1-evolution
1997 Porsche GT1 Evolution -------------------------- For all intents and purposes, the 911 GT1 was the ultimate evolution of the 911. It was Porsche's last balls-to-the-wall factory entry at the 24 Hours of Le Mans — yes, [a little car called the RS Spyder existed](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_RS_Spyder), and yes, it was cool, but the GT1 made it look like a neutered squirrel — and it represents the last great gasp of the twentieth-century 911. In 1995, [McLaren](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/tag/mclaren/) won Le Mans outright with its [production-based F1 GTR](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/2011/05/ralph-lauren-collection/?pid=980). As the then-current 911 (993) GT2 Evo was unable to compete in the GTR's GT1 class, Porsche was forced to rethink its efforts. The car that resulted, dubbed 911 GT1, was a radical solution to a complex problem. The GT1 was effectively a mid-engine prototype built around the barest bones of an air-cooled 911. Its tube-frame chassis, composite panels, and double-wishbone suspension bore no resemblance to anything Porsche had ever sold in a showroom, and the silhouette bodywork looked like a 993 flattened by the world's sexiest steamroller. The engine was a water-cooled, 600 horsepower, twin-turbo 3.1-liter evolution of a 993 block. (Incidentally, a version of that same block found its way into subsequent production 911 GT3s; it remains the water-cooled production 911's greatest tie to the air-cooled Porsche era.) Here's the best part: A handful of street-legal versions of the GT1 were produced in order to legalize the car for competition. (This isn't one of those cars, but how cool is that? Can you imagine driving one of these on the street?) Following a few years of competition, the GT1 was updated into what Porsche called "Evolution" models, with revised bodywork and suspension. Drendel's car is one of those models, 993-GT1-004, built for Le Mans in 1997. He purchased it in 2008. It comes with what the auction listing calls an "extensive spares collection, including a GT1 customer engine." So, you know, at $900,000 to $1.2 million, it's a bargain. *Photo: Pawel Litwinski/Gooding & Co.* <script src="http://admin.brightcove.com/js/BrightcoveExperiences.js" type="text/javascript"></script><object class="BrightcoveExperience" id="myExperience1492599837001"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"></param> <param name="width" value="660"></param> <param name="height" value="423"></param> <param name="playerID" value="3698508001"></param> <param name="publisherID" value="1564549380"></param> <param name="isVid" value="true"></param> <param name="dynamicStreaming" value="true"></param> <param name="@videoPlayer" value="1492599837001"></param></object><script type="text/javascript"> runMobileCompatibilityScript('myExperience1492599837001', 'anId'); </script><script type="text/javascript">brightcove.createExperiences();</script> A GT-1 Evolution in action.
