Track Icons : Porsche 935/78 + Kremer 935 K Series

Without being a die-hard Porsche enthusiast, you can easily notice the difference between a Porsche 911 and a 935. The Porsche 935 is overshadowed by the far

dominant 917 series, while having a legendary heritage of its own.

Based on the 2nd generation Porsche 911 930 chassis, the 935 series were a series of racing vehicles

produced to race in several categories of racing series, such as IMSA GT(International Motor Sports Association Grand Touring) Championships, The FIA World Sportscar Championship and the DRM(Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft).

There were officially 3 versions of the 935 series, the /76, /77 and the final /78 version. But the most iconic variant of the 935 would be the /78 variant, famously nicknamed the ‘Moby Dick’, as it resembled the Great White Whale. The 935/78 was powered by a water cooled turbocharged flat 6 engine, which was a first for Porsche.

The turbocharged flat 6 engine in the 935/78 produced 835 horsepower, which was mated to a 4 speed manual transmission, allowing the 935/78 in stock configuration to reach more than 366 kph. The performance of the 935/78 was astonishing, as its lap time on several tracks such as Silverstone was similar to the Formula 1 machines at the time. But, due to these outstanding performance factors, the car was considered unreliable, as it often retired due to several machine troubles, often being oil leaks and overheating issues.

The heritage of the 935 doesn’t end after its official retirement in 1979, as it was often modified or built as a tribute car by different racing teams to suit regulation in further seasons. The most famous of this bunch would be the Kremer modified 935, which were the K2, K3 and the K4.

The K2 was a modified /77 K1, which was a rebuilt /77 built fully by Kremer Racing. The most notable change of the K2 was the ‘Cut Off’ style front bumper, which was fitted to fit specially designed rectangular headlight housings. Kremer also used exotic materials such as carbon fibre to assemble the K2, unlike the traditional fibreglass components used to assemble the standard 935/77. The rear quarter panel had fins attached to the top, in order to lead the airflow directly to the rear wing, which improved aerodynamics.

The successor to the K2 was the K3, which sustained most of the changes made by the K2, but added more performance features that mostly focused on improving the weakness of the 935, such as a direct airflow intercooler, which solved most of the cooling issues the standard 935 had. The engine was also bored and stroked to 3163cc, and with upgraded turbochargers which could now have a maximum pressure of 1.7 bar, allowed the K3 to have an average power figure of 800 horsepower, which is less than the 935/78, but was available with scramble boost, which allowed 50 more horsepower to be produced on certain amounts of time.

Unlike the K1, K2, and the K3 the K4 was built originally by Kremer, only using leftover spare parts and original designs of the 935/78. Only 5 ever built, the K4 featured an upgraded race spec 4 speed manual transmission, a modified /78 body to increase downforce and airflow, and a completely new intake system designed by AIR, fitted to the front fenders. The K4 was extremely successful, winning 6 races of the IMSA season in 1982 and more races until the 935's retirement in 1984.