TG24: is the new Porsche 935 a worthy tribute to Moby Dick?

Playing with heritage is a bit like playing with fire – especially if you’re meddling with the rich and lucrative history of Porsche. But this is exactly what the German manufacturer did during Rennsport Reunion last year.

As a 70th birthday present from itself to, well, itself, Porsche showed off a track-only 911 GT2 RS. But not any old track-only 911 GT2 RS. This one was made to look like an icon. A full-blown gizz-us-ya-money homage to the legendary 935 from Le Mans 1978 ­– the one known in Porsche circles as ‘Moby Dick’.

Done right, rebranding an icon can be a handy defibrillator to give a new generation a second bite of a famous nameplate. Done wrong, it can be seen as a tragically desperate grasp from the marketing department for some juicy low-hanging fruit. So it’s no wonder that sardonic souls (which – unfortunately – many of us are at TG) wince as soon as they get wind of a modern reinvention/remodel/recreation of a legendary car. 

But what the hell is Moby Dick? And why have people got their Nomex panties in a twist? Well, sit up straight and prepare for a quick history lesson.

You need to scroll Porsche’s camera roll back to the seventies for the origins of this long-tailed legend. Specifically, to the era of Group 5; where breakfast was powdered and delivered through your nasal cavity and two fingers were given to the racing rule book. It was a time when everyday cars were basted with monster power, potty aero silhouettes and flames hosed out of exhausts. We’re talking cars like the BMW M1, Zakspeed Ford Capri and Porsche’s unstoppable offering, a modified 911 3.0-litre Turbo called the 935. 

The 935 won every Le Mans it started between 1976 and 1981, and took the overall victory in 1979. These slant-nosed, lightweights (the original 935s famously needed 70kg of lead added to their structures to reach minimum race weight of 970kg) tore up the competition with variants destroying multiple championships across the world, winning a third of the 370 races it entered. But privateers such as Kremer started stealing the limelight from Porsche’s factory operation, so in 1978 Zuffenhausen doubled-down.

Obviously having downed a pint of ‘berserk’ the night before, Ernst Fuhrmann (a CEO who believed in the benefits of motorsport) gave the green light for Porsche to turn the heat up on the 935 – a car that quite frankly was already at gas mark 10. The 3.2-litre flat-six was completely overhauled by Hans Mezger thanks to water-cooled cylinder heads and all sorts of trickery, including an additional KKK turbo. This created nothing short of biblical lag, but also 845bhp. Yep, eight hundred and forty-five brake horsepower. As a point of reference, back then the basic 911 Turbo delivered 260bhp. This was all fed through a four-speed manual gearbox where first is good for 100mph. And a locked rear differential.

Then legendary motorsport engineer Norbert Singer got to work on the aero. Leaving the standard bodywork exposed underneath, he clad the 911 with elongated fenders and bodywork so extreme it looked like he’d fed it to a mangle. This, plus removing the entire floor plan of the base 911 (lowering the 935/78 by 10cm) made for one of the most unique 911s ever.

It remains the most powerful Porsche 911 ever. It topped out at 235mph. And, finished in white, it gained the formidable epithet of Moby Dick (the giant white sperm whale from Herman Melville’s novel). It trounced the opposition, securing pole at its first race at Silverstone and went on to win by seven laps. But it wasn’t successful at Le Mans. Engine problems meant it finished 8th, but it had qualified third, not far behind the top-class Group Six racers, the Porsche 936 and the Alpine A442 that went on to win. Even so, its legendary long-tailed status was confirmed.

Given the God-like status that Moby Dick holds, you can imagine the sour taste that started pumping from Porschephile’s saliva glands when the ‘new 935’ was announced. Surely skewering a GT2 RS then dunking it in a Porsche fondue of motorsport history for the benefit of a marketing department’s bottom-line is sacrilege. Well, that’s exactly what I thought before spending a week with it at TG24. Then things changed.

See, it’s a car that you really have to soak up in person to fully appreciate. Orbiting around it you pick up on plenty of subtle nods to Porsche’s past; lookalike fan-style aero wheel rims from the original 935/78, the centre-exit, titanium twin exhausts harking back to the Porsche 908 from 1968. Even the shift knob from the road car's PDK ’box can be finished in lightweight laminated wood, just like hardcore Porsches of old, like the 917, Carrera GT and Bergspyder. From behind the computer screen they seem gimmicky, but somehow become more tasteful in reality.

Then there’s the presence. It’s a monster; just under five metres long, and properly wide at over two metres, with extended bodywork like its grandad. There’s also a bonkers rear wing that’s 1.9m across complete with simple yet sinister LED endplates from the 919 Hybrid LMP1 car. Peek under the rear skirt you see the bum of a GT2 RS, just like how you can see the familiar Seventies 911 arse on Moby dick. But this time it’s finished in exposed carbon fibre. Proper knuckle-biting stuff.

Admittedly, a standard GT2 RS is hardly a shrinking violet but the 935 oozes theatre. Suspended on three air jacks, it throbs on idle – reverberating a pulsing bass tone around Portimao's garages. It’s angry and imposing, especially when there’s a team of torqued-up engineers and mechanics (complete with incredible bi-folding snack cave complete with electrolyte bar, a hot dog machine) acting as its overprotective foster parents; constantly prepping it for the ultimate lap time no matter the conditions.

Yes, you can simply just turn the key and go, but this kind of fuss makes it feel like you’re racing at Le Mans. And inside there are familiar touchpoints, the headlight switch, gear lever and ignition barrel. But having to crawl over a rollcage into the cocoon of a seat and grab a lopped-off race wheel adds to the occasion. Then you realise you’re on slicks, have stacks of downforce, a whole track to play on through day and night and a £750k bill if it goes wrong. But for full impressions, you’ll have to wait a few weeks, as we’ve put it up against something quite special for TG24. Then strapped Chris Harris into it. So keep your eyes peeled.

So is the legend reimagined worthy of the 935 nameplate? Yes and no. It’s not a disservice to the original but it’s by no means an accurate modern reincarnation. It’s still some 145bhp short of the original, yet there have been 41 years of technical progress in between. It's also not terrifying to drive. And there’s more than 70 of them in existence. See, for a true like-for-like they would have needed to down a few more pints of ‘berserk’ like the boys did back in the day, then we'd be talking.