Wednesday 17 September 2008

Porsche 934: The Street-legal Racer






Porsche 911-based race cars have always been very successful and in the early part of the 1970’s, that was certainly the case. For the 1976 season, FIA-sanctioned sports car racing was divided into 6 classes and Porsche had been very dominant in the Group 4 Class, which were strictly based on production road cars.




















With the launch of the 930 Turbo in 1975, Porsche saw an ideal platform on which to build it’s new Group 4 candidate. With relatively minor (in race car terms) modification, Porsche created the 934 Turbo RSR. This efficient racer was still road legal, even retaining it’s power windows! The 934 was built through 1976 and 1977, with about 400 being built.

In competition, the 934 continued the company’s success by winning the European GT Championship, driven by Toine Hezermans (Netherlands), and the Trans Am Championship in the hands of American George Follmer. At Le Mans, the racers had class wins in 1977, 1978 and 1979.

A few years ago, I built the Tamiya 1/12 kit No.12020 Porsche 934 Turbo RSR No.24 Jägermeister racer, in it’s classic 1976 orange livery. I put in approximately 350 hours in the build, adding considerable more detail to already detailed kit; I also added the Tamiya kit No. RM2202 Motor Racing Team Mechanic. I had to mix the custom paint for him, and create the custom patches and stitching for his suit.

I then built the base to display it, using oak-flooring scraps and a ceramic tile; the acrylic cover was made to my specifications. I finished it off with a pewter plaque, which I engraved.

It won every top award in the local model competitions in 2006, and is now retired from the show circuit.

5 comments:

Gary Faules said...

Simply unbelievable! Such detail... Wow!

993C4S said...

Paul,

+ 1,000,000 on Gary's comment above. Absolutely stunning. Do you have any others like it?

Automobiliart.com said...

Monsieur Porsche
I actually do have some more racing models, plus a scratch-built flying model of Tintin's rocket; you can see them at http://racecartoys.piczo.com/?g=14547940&cr=1
Cheers!

rob ijbema said...

excellent,especially the close ups showing the detail,brins back many memories,builth the martini version at the time,brilliant tamiya kits they were,you made them even better!

Automobiliart.com said...

Rob
Thanks for the note; it was fun to build, but it was also fun to finish!
Wit my art talking my time, I miss building my kits ... I have the 1938 British GP Auto Union and the 1955 Mercedes Mille Miglia SLR half built ...
I see that you're no slouch; your mid-70's Williams are stunning!
Cheers!
Paul