VIN: the works Porsche 953 chassis 100020
History of chassis 100020
The 953 was created for Porsche’s first attack on the daunting Paris-Dakar Rally (in 1984). A three-year Paris-Dakar programme would see the German firm return in 1985 and 1986 with prototype iterations of the 959.
Porsche built a trio of the four-wheel drive 953s; chassis 100020 was allocated to Jacky Ickx who had convinced the German marque to take up the challenge having won the event driving a Mercedes G Wagon in 1983.
After their successful collaboration in 1983, Ickx was again navigated by French actor, Claude Brasseur.
Despite having been a hot favourite for victory in ‘84, Ickx’s event got off to a bad start. On the first leg to incorporate a timed special stage (El Golea to In Salah on day four), he was slowed by a faulty fuel pump and two punctures.
His bad luck continued on the next stage (In Salah to Tamanrasset); an errant stone caused a short circuit in the electrical system 70km into the stage. It seemed that Ickx would have to retire, however, at the eleventh hour, one of the Rothmans MAN service trucks rolled into view and a temporary repair enabled chassis 100020 to reach Tamanrasset (although it had lost four hours and dropped to 139th in the overall standings).
Ickx bounced back by winning the next four stages through the desert from Tamanrasset to Agadez.
By the end of stage 15 (and with a couple more wins under his belt), Ickx had moved up to sixth in the general classification.
His last two wins came on the final day (when three timed special stages were held).
With eight stage wins in total, Ickx recorded four times as many as his closest competitor (team-mate Rene Metge with two).
Ickx / Brasseur finished the event sixth in the overall standings while Metge was crowned winner.
Afterwards, all three cars returned to the factory where they were freshened up and used as part of the 959 development programme.
Chassis 100020 and 100021 later made an unexpected return to front-line competition on the 1988 Paris-Dakar Rally after Porsche agreed to lease the cars to Jacques Laffite and Jean-Pierre Jabouille.
Repainted bright green to reflect backing from Foltene shampoo, the cars (which had a shakedown on the Rally of Tunisia) were now said to have 250bhp.
Chassis 100020 was allocated to Laffite and his navigator, Pierre Landereau. It appeared on the registration S JV 1180 (the original plate had been BB PW 604).
Neither car initially ran in the top ten on the ‘88 event. Both arrived safely at Tamanrasset having completed stage four, but they were very late (rolling in at 2am) because of shock absorber trouble. Progress had been hampered as their support truck was missing.
Laffite and Jabouille checked in for the next stage (Tamanrasset to Djanet) and then waited for the truck to appear. It never did, so both cars were withdrawn from the event.
In 1989, chassis 100020 was purchased by Porsche Club of America Prsident, Prescott Kelly. The car was shipped to California and restored to its 1984 configuration by Morspeed.
Kelly showed chassis 100020 several times before he sold it to a Japanese collector, Mr. Uba.
When Mr Uba's real estate business began to suffer in the 1990s, he sold the 953 (along with his ex-works 956) to American collector, Harry Mathews.
Mathews in turn sold the car in the year 2000.
Notable History
WPOZZZ91ZES100020
Rothmans Porsche
Registered BB PW 604
01-20/01/1984 IND Paris-Dakar Rally (J. Ickx / C. Brasseur) 6th oa (#175)
Re-painted green Foltene livery (Foltene Porsche)
Registered S JV 1180
01-22/01/1988 IND Paris-Dakar Rally (J. Laffite / P. Landereau) DNF (#220)
1989 sold to Prescott Kelly, USA
Restored to original configuration by Morspeed
Sold to Uba, Japan
Sold to Harry Mathews, USA
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Porsche - https://www.porsche.com
