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Porsche 930 to 935: The Turbo Porsches

Much has been written about Porsche’s racing exploits over the years, but there is perhaps one model that has served, more than any other, as the pillar of the company’s achievements. Prototypes have come and gone, and Porsche has even dabbled in Formula racing, but it is the 911 that has been the mainstay of the company’s competition success. In particular, it was the Porsche 930 to 935 models that elevated the Stuttgart company into the super performance league. Starkey’s Porsche 930 to 935: The Turbo Porsches brings these cars into your office or study in brilliant style.

In 1973, Mark Donohue dominated the Can-Am series with his monstrously powerful 917/30, and it was as a result of lessons learned through turbocharging this model that Porsche was able to apply that experience to developing the 911. The 911 Turbo (or Type 930 as it was known internally) was first shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 1973. Launched in 1975, the 930 Turbo was Porsche’s first stab at applying turbocharging to a roadgoing model, and what a success it proved to be. The competition division of the FIA, the CSI, decided after the advent of the Group 5 racers (Porsche 917, Ferrari 512 S & M, etc), that they would in future encourage race cars developed from roadgoing models. This would outlaw the hugely powerful Porsche 917s and 7-litre Fords, and promote more reasonably-powered sports cars. But they hadn’t reckoned on the ingenuity of Porsche’s engineers!

As from 1971, Group 4 race cars had to be homologated on a production model that required a minimum of 500 units to be made (this was reduced to 400 units over 24 months in 1976). Where power in the naturally aspirated 911 Carrera RSR 3.0 had peaked at 330bhp (1973-1975), the 934 which was Porsche’s Group 4 turbocharged contender, developed a mighty 485bhp. The 934 was essentially the customer race car, while Porsche created the 935 to race in Group 5 as the factory-based racer. Power in the 935 had jumped to 590bhp, almost double the Carrera RSR 3.0, in a little over a year. Of course, there are many well-known 935 specials, such as the 935/77 2.0 ‘Baby’ and the 935/78 ‘Moby Dick’ but to explain these here would be to reproduce much of the content of the book.
As from 1971, Group 4 race cars had to be homologated on a production model that required a minimum of 500 units to be made (this was reduced to 400 units over 24 months in 1976). Where power in the naturally aspirated 911 Carrera RSR 3.0 had peaked at 330bhp (1973-1975), the 934 which was Porsche’s Group 4 turbocharged contender, developed a mighty 485bhp. The 934 was essentially the customer race car, while Porsche created the 935 to race in Group 5 as the factory-based racer. Power in the 935 had jumped to 590bhp, almost double the Carrera RSR 3.0, in a little over a year. Of course, there are many well-known 935 specials, such as the 935/77 2.0 ‘Baby’ and the 935/78 ‘Moby Dick’ but to explain these here would be to reproduce much of the content of the book.

ISBN 978-1-787112-46-9