Porsche 935/78 'Moby Dick'

The Porsche 935 was introduced in 1976, as the racing version of the Porsche 930 (911 Turbo), prepared for FIA -Group 5 rules (similar to the Porsche 934 which was built for the more standard Group 4).

The 935 raced in various championships including the World Sportscar Championship, the IMSA championship and the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (DRM). Usually, no other make could challenge the Porsche 935, as each races at the time typically featured at least five of the same models due to the availability of customer models, racing became entertaining for the crowd at the expense of the drivers’ frustrations, due to the unpredictable behaviour of the large turbocharger controlled by the mechanical fuel injection, causing a turbo lag and at a sudden a fireball spitting from the exhaust and giving out a large power output of typically 800bhp.

For 1978, yet another version was developed, the 935/78. It took full advantage of loop holes in the Group 5 rules and was lowered by 10cm. Because of its shape, with a long front and rear optimised for low drag, the 935/78 was often nicknamed ‘Moby Dick’. The engine was enlarged to 3.2 L and equipped with water-cooled four valve cylinder heads, pushing the output to 895 hp (about 658 kW). This version won the 6h of Silverstone and was the fastest car on the straight in Le Mans at well over 360 km/h, easily passing the prototypes of Renault and their team-mate Porsche 936, too, as the Group 6 cars had smaller engines.

Private non-factory built ‘Moby Dick’ style replica cars were entered into the DRM and IMSA series in following years by Joest Racing and Moretti racing.