Porsche has had more iconic racing cars than any other manufacturer. That is a fact that cannot be debated. Among those, perhaps the best known is the legendary 935 of the ’70s and ’80s. If there were one to own, chances are high that it would be this one. This is the exact Porsche driven to class victory at Le Mans with legendary actor Paul Newman at the wheel. Newman shared the car with Rolf Stommelen and Dick Barbour who owned the team. And that was just the car’s first race in 1979. As luck would have it, our friends at Gooding & Co. are selling this very Porsche at their Pebble Beach sale next month.
In 1980 the 935 became known as the infamous “Apple Car” sponsored by Apple Computers, with which it scored a handful of podium places. This Porsche won the Daytona 24 hour race in 1981, and the Sebring 12 hours in 1983. There aren’t many chassis that can claim Sebring, Daytona, and Le Mans wins. I believe one of the C5 generation Corvettes has also accomplished this feat, but I doubt it’s more than those two. And certainly no other winning car has Paul Newman provenance. This will be a valuable one. Whoever wins, I hope they bring it out to the next Rennsport Reunion in 2018.
This car was restored in 2006 by Porsche specialist Paul Willison to its 1979 Le Mans “Hawaiian Tropic” livery and went on to win Best in Class at the 2007 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. We’ll be sure to bring you further information about this car in our traditional auction preview, but for now just be happy this exists, and prepare your checkbooks and work out your bidding paddle arms. I will absolutely be in the room when this Porsche sells, and I expect the bids to come hot and fast. There is no pre-auction estimate, but a new record for 935s would not be outside the realm of possibility. Let’s start the bidding at four million, shall we say?
For more information on this car, and the upcoming Gooding & Co. Pebble Beach auctions, check out goodingco.com.
[Photos provided by Gooding & Co.]
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"Toys for Big Boys" indeed! The Barbour/Newman/Stommelin 935 was just barely IMSA compliant, and bore only a casual resemblance to road going 930's. But oh, what a ride it must have been!