If you’re a wealthy track day fiend, and you love Porsche, today has been an extremely good day for you. During the Porsche Rennsport Reunion event in Northern California, our favorite German sports car manufacturer announced a modern-day throwback to the mid-1970s. By melding the powerplant of a 991 GT2 RS with the pure race car chassis and interior of a GT3 Cup race car, then tacking on crazy sloped nose and long-tail bodywork reminiscent of the 935 Moby Dick race car, Porsche have created an entirely new genre of car.
It’s not street legal, and it isn’t homologated for any racing series, but the new-for-2019 Porsche 935 is an expensive toy for wealthy gentleperson drivers. With a price tag exceeding 700,000 euros, and only 77 units available worldwide, it’s pretty likely that most of these track machines will spend most of their lives in climate controlled storage facilities.
When I first heard the news of the 935s existence this morning, I was a bit cynical, and I suppose to a certain extent I still am. When I saw the car in the flesh this afternoon at Rennsport, however, my opinion has slightly lightened. After talking to a representative of Porsche, who called the car “A machine whose sole purpose is to go fast and make noise,” it started to make a little more sense to me. It’s quite a lot more striking in person, which certainly helped.
The tech specs on this car are pretty impressive, too. While the near-700 horsepower number is identical to the GT2 RS from which it gets its power, the 935 weighs more than 200 pounds less than its street-going sibling, but benefits from the stiffness of a full roll cage. When paired with the extreme aero enhancements and race-derived suspension, the 935 should be significantly faster around any track than the ‘regular’ GT2 RS. It’s a hardcore noise and speed machine for people looking to make noise and speed.
Besides, anything with a 908-inspired exhaust outlet, a set of old-school turbofan wheel covers, and a wood shift knob like that of the old 917s, is a winner in my book.
