One to Buy: ex-Interscope Racing 1981 Kremer K4
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After the 935/78 ‘Moby Dick’-inspired K3 that, in 1979, became the first production-based car to win at Le Mans during the post World War 2 era, Kremer created the even more radical K4 of which just two examples were built: chassis K4/01 and K4/02.
Whereas each K3 started life as a 930 bodyshell, the K4 was a far more radical beast with just the roof and windscreen supplied by Porsche. Based around a custom aluminium tubular chassis, power came from a 3.2-litre twin turbo Flat 6 said to produce in excess of 800bhp.
The first K4 was retained by Kremer for Bob Wollek to drive in the 1981 Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (DRM) where the Jagermeister-backed machine bagged two wins and four second place finishes.
Meanwhile, the other example was shipped out to Ted Field’s Interscope Racing in the United States which had campaigned a brace of K3s in the IMSA championship during 1980. Having also acquired a Lola T600 for the ‘81 season, the Interscope outfit surprisingly preferred to run its K3s in the GTX class that year and neither the K4 or T600 actually raced.
In 1983, chassis K4/02 was sold to Porsche main dealer, Vasek Polak, for the collection at his showroom in Hermosa Beach, California. The car remained in storage until 1997, at which point it was sold to Marshall Field (Ted Field’s nephew) and prepared for historic racing.
Almost two decades later, in 2018, K4/02 became publicly available for the first time in its life and was acquired by Bruce Canepa. Canepa Motorsports then carried out a breathtaking ground up restoration, returning K4/02 to perfect as-new condition throughout.
Today, chassis K4/02 is residing at the Canepa showroom in Scotts Valley, California. It represents an impossibly rare opportunity to acquire arguably the ultimate Kremer-Porsche racing car.
