When the FIA announced a return to pure, purpose-built prototypes in endurance racing—with the introduction of the Group C category for the 1982 season—Porsche knew it needed to design a totally new racecar to succeed the Le Mans–winning 936. However, not since the revolutionary 917 of the early ’70s had Porsche designed a “clean sheet of paper” prototype racer. The result of this new design challenge was the 956, and later 962, models, which would virtually dominate long-distance endurance racing for the next decade with outright wins at Le Mans from 1982–1987 and again in 1994.
This month’s featured Web site is devoted to the history of not only the 956/962, but also its predecessors, the 935 and the venerable 917. Some of the features of this site include detailed histories of each model by respected author Bill Oursler, a separate chassis registry for each model that includes photos and available chassis details, as well as a listing of cars for sale, a collection of memorabilia and related links. While this site provides a wealth of great information, it was disappointing that many of the hi-res photo links were broken. However, even with this problem, there is plenty here to keep the Porsche enthusiast happy.
