No matter which camp your motorsport allegiances lie, it is a fact that the most ubiquitous and iconic car of the Group 5 era is Porsche’s wild aerodynamically shaped 911-based prototype, the 935. This year, for the 76th Members Meeting at Goodwood, a few dozen of the greatest Group 5 cars were invited out to parade around the circuit in a so-called “high-speed demo”. These two “demos” are not races, but opportunities for drivers to take their incredible race cars for a spirited trundle around the wet and narrow private circuit. As one would expect, the run group attracted quite a few 935s, and even an awesome 924 Carrera GTR.
In run group one, sadly, that 924 conked out on the first lap, but that is made up for by the incredibly rare opportunity to see the Martini-liveried Langheck Moby Dick circulate a few laps. Throw in a small handful of other, perhaps lesser, 935s, plus a few BMWs and a couple of Italians, and you have yourself a “high-speed demonstration”. Perhaps the best part of this whole event, however, was the fact that this run group featured Mansour Ojjeh’s famous 935 street car as one of the pace cars! If it’s possible, run group two was even more packed with era-appropriate talent. Moby Dick returned for a second helping, joined by two of the Coca Cola sponsored Akin-entered 935s.
While we didn’t get to see these cars racing side-by-side a full speed, this run was still a spectacular sight to see. Race cars like these are often held deep inn collectors’ inner sanctums and don’t frequently see the light of day, let alone the cold and drizzly afternoon in the British countryside. Rolling vintage displays like this one are infinitely better than seeing them parked on a manicured golf course for some Concours or another. Get out and drive your vintage race cars, won’t you?
The demo group was split into two different run groups, and both are available to watch below. Each are about 20 minutes long, providing plenty of awesome ’70s and ’80s fire-spitting entertainment.