Before Jaguar and Mercedes came to the fore, the first half of the Group C era was very much a Porsche playground, with the 956 and 962 models claiming the Le Mans 24 Hours from 1982 to 1987 and the world title from 1982 to 1986. Things kicked off in 1982, when three factory Rothmans Porsche 956s finished 1, 2, 3 at Le Mans, and in numerical order; and now, 32 years later, the car that finished third – chassis 004 – will be returning to La Sarthe in June as part of the Group C Racing race that supports the 82nd edition of the endurance classic.
The car was purchased at auction (for €2,352,000) at February’s Retromobile show in Paris by Greek Historics racer Kriton Lendoudis and is being prepared by Essex-based Porsche specialists Maxted-Page & Prill Limited.
“We only received the car three weeks ago, but so far things have been going well,” said director Andy Prill. “Obviously the car was a bit of an unknown in terms of racing because it has not been raced for so long. Our first goal was to understand what we had so we did a full safety check and a service as well as replacing any out of date safety equipment.
“Last week RM auctions hosted a private test session at Silverstone and I had the privilege of shaking the car down with the new owner. We completed around 40 trouble free laps, albeit on intermediate tyres. The car will now get checked again before going to the Group C demonstration at the Goodwood Members meeting on March 29th/30th.
“Then the real work starts, because the owner has entered the car for the Group C support race at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours.”
This video tells the story of the 1982 race:
“To get the car to Le Mans we have a lot to do – the fuel cell needs to be remade and all of the suspension needs to be crack-tested,” explained Prill. “The car also needs a full set-up analysis and then needs setting-up based on the results of that analysis. We have also applied for FIA papers. Finding spare parts is also a bit of a challenge but so far we have done very well and already have three spares sets of wheels.
“The owner is obviously planning to do more races this year, but exactly what races will to some extent depend on what happens at Le Mans assuming that we make it to Le Mans.”
The full history of 956 004 can be found in the excellent “Porsche 956 – Sketches of Performance”, by Reynald Hézard and DSC contributor David Legangneux (review – here), from which we can find its full race history – here.
Although confirmation of the entry for the Group C race is still forthcoming, it is believed that numbers will be on a par to the last time the series raced at Le Mans in 2012, when 29 cars took the start.
Images © Maxted-Page & Prill Limited
