VIN: 62 Seconds to Immortality - the Rothmans Racing Porsche 956 chassis 003
/ Ben Tyer
HISTORY OF CHASSIS 003
With its record of five major victories from eight race outings, Porsche 956 chassis 003 ranks among the most successful top flight Sports Prototypes ever.
Reserved for use by the Rothmans-backed factory Porsche outfit, chassis 003 made its debut as part of a three-car team at the 1982 Le Mans 24 Hours where it was allocated to Jochen Mass and Vern Schuppan who qualified second behind team-mates Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell.
Despite some delays to address a misfiring engine, Mass and Schuppan ultimately brought 003 home in second overall behind the highly fancied lead entry of Ickx / Bell. Fellow factory 956 drivers Al Holbert, Hurley Haywood and Jurgen Barth made it a famous 1-2-3 finish for Porsche.
The German manufacturer went on to contest a further three World Sportscar Championship events in 1982, all of which were won by chassis 003. These outings comprised the Spa 1000km (pole position and victory for Ickx / Mass), the Fuji 6 Hours (second place grid slot and victory for Ickx / Mass) and the Brands Hatch 1000km (sixth place grid slot and victory for Ickx / Bell).
At the end of the season, Porsche also took a two-car team to South Africa for the non-championship Kyalami 9 Hours where Ickx and Mass started from pole, set fastest lap and won again in 003.
Although Porsche assembled a batch of new 956s for the 1983 season, two of the four cars campaigned during 1982 continued to race with all the updates ushered in over the close season.
One of these was chassis 003 which ran on two occasions.
003’s first outing of 1983 came at the Le Mans 24 Hours (where it had finished second the year before). On this occasion, 003 was allocated to the trio of Vern Schuppan, Al Holbert and Hurley Haywood who qualified seventh while team-mates Ickx / Bell started from pole and Mass / Bellof lined up third.
Before the end of lap two, Schuppan had moved 003 into second behind team-mate Mass while Ickx was forced to pit for a new nose after an incident with Jan Lammers’ privateer 956.
By dusk, the works Porsches were running in 1-2-3 formation with 003 second behind chassis 008. However, when the lead Mass / Bellof entry began to suffer with a sick engine at around midnight, 003 inherited a lead it would retain until the end. However, it was a close run as late issues with the car’s cooling system resulted in a seized engine with just two minutes to go. Holbert managed to overcome the problem by carrying out a bump start procedure and 003 ultimately crossed the line 62 seconds ahead of the Ickx / Bell machine.
After its successful outing at Le Mans, 003 was wheeled for an on the end-of-season Kayalami 1000km, but on this occasion Holbert and Schuppan failed to finish owing to ignition trouble.
003 subsequently posted another DNF at the 1984 Imola 1000km (when it ran with a PDK gearbox and went out on lap two with clutch failure). A week later the car was set to contest the Nurburgring DRM event with John Watson behind the wheel, but another clutch failure (this time in practice) meant it never took to the grid.
Chassis 003 was subsequently retired from frontline competition duty, after which it was sold to Vern Schuppan (along with chassis 008).
Schuppan retained the car until 1996 at which point it was sold to New York collector Aaron Hsu who had it restored and then sold it on in 1999.
Notable History
Rothmans Porsche
20/06/1982 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (J. Mass / V. Schuppan) 2nd oa, 2nd C class (#2)
05/09/1982 WSC Spa 1000km (J. Ickx / J. Mass) 1st oa, 1st C class (#1)
03/10/1982 WSC Fuji 6 Hours (J. Ickx / J. Mass) 1st oa, 1st C class (#1)
17/10/1982 WSC Brands Hatch 1000km (J. Ickx / D. Bell) 1st oa, 1st C class (#11)
06/11/1982 IND Kyalami 9 Hours (J. Ickx / J. Mass) 1st oa, 1st C class (#3)
29/05/1983 WSC Nurburgring 1000km (S. Bellof / J. Ickx / J. Mass) T-car (#3T)
19/06/1983 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (V. Schuppan / A. Holbert / H. Haywood) 1st oa, 1st C class (#3)
10/12/1983 WSC Kyalami 1000km (A. Holbert / V. Schuppan) DNF (#3)
02/09/1984 WSC Spa 1000 km Spa (-) T-car (#-)
16/09/1984 WSC Imola 1000 km (J. Ickx / J. Watson) DNF (#1)
23/09/1984 DRM Nurburgring (J. Watson) DNS (#6)
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Porsche - https://www.porsche.com
Somewhat surprisingly given the red hot nature of the late 1980s collector car market, Porsche only built 29 copies of the formidable 959 Sport between 1987 and ‘89. Conceived to take the 959…
With its bulging Coke-bottle shape, slanted headlights and massive tea tray rear spoiler, the 993-type 911 Turbo became an icon of late 90s automotive design. Produced between 1995 and ‘98, this…
In addition to an in-house 935-inspired K1 and Vaillant-liveried 934 on the books for 1976, the Cologne-based Kremer brothers prepared a 934 financed by German privateer, Gerhard Holup.
Five years after he had joimed Porsche (back when the company was based in the Austrian town of Gmund and the 356/1 prototype was still on the drawing board), engineer Ernst Fuhrmann was given…
When it comes to most extreme iterations of the 911, three candidates stand out. One is the 1974 Carrera RSR Turbo, another the 935 it spawned which, from 1976, was built in various states of tune.
During the peak of its popularity in the mid 1980s, the 944 Turbo was selling in almost as many numbers as the 911 Carrera - well over 10,000 a year. However, by the early 1990s, the 944 was…
During 1973, the Martini-backed Porsche works team ran 911 Carrera RSRs that became ever more extreme as they were developed away from production-based Group 4 trim towards out-and-out…
Porsche’s 911 Turbo, internal code 930, paved the way for two forced induction racing cars that debuted in 1976: the Group 4 934 and Group 5 935. In Group 4, only relatively light modifications…
Chassis 9305700022 was the last of Porsche’s pre-production 911 Turbos. Originally configured in Black with Brown upholstery and Sports seats, the car was registered S-CE 1919 and served as a…
Between the 1950s and 1990s, members of the Korps Rijkspolitie, the Dutch National Police responsible for the nation's highways, were issued a variety of open top Porsche patrol cars; 356…
Between 1967 and 1969, Porsche commissioned three transporters from Mercedes-Benz based on the O317 platform. During the years that followed, this handsome trio traversed Europe, initially…
Porsche most famously came a cropper with regard to trademark law when, in late 1964, the German firm was forced to re-brand its 901 as the 911 because Peugeot had already registered three digit…
Kremer Racing’s 1974 campaign focused primarily on two of the latest specification 911 RSRs which the Cologne outfit built up from naked Porsche-supplied bodyshells. Together, chassis 004…
Although Porsche produced a batch of 20 Group B 911 SCs that wore the Renn Sport moniker in 1984, the 964-based RS launched in early 1991 marked a return to the street for this iconic sobriquet after…
The 1970s were an era of bold expression: fashion, furniture, music, design, and, in this case, car colors. Birch Green, an almost fluorescent hue, was developed more than 50 years ago, specifically for the 911 RSR.
Two of the most famous Flachbau 930s were commissioned by key members from the McLaren F1 team that ran Porsche’s TAG-branded engines with such great success between mid 1983 and 1987.
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…
Five months after the production-ready 911 Turbo (930) was unveiled at the 1974 Frankfurt Motor Show, Porsche displayed their new range-topping model at the ‘75 Geneva Salon which was widely…
During the 1973 season, renowned American industrialist and race team owner, Roger Penske, began to develop plans for a one make series that would pitch the world’s top Formula 1, NASCAR and…
Having reserved the 956 strictly for works use during the model’s maiden season (1982), Porsche began to offer customer copies for 1983. The following year, a further updated iteration was supplied…
At the 1979 Le Mans 24 Hours, victory went to a production-based car as opposed to a purpose-built prototype for the first time in the post World War 2 era. That vehicle was a works Kremer K3 derived…
Chassis 9306700159 was one of two 934s supplied to Cologne-based property magnate and team owner, Georg Loos. Since starting to race seriously in 1968, Loos had campaigned an array of…
As Porsche had refused to sell customer copies of the brand new 935 for the 1976 season, the renowned Kremer Racing outfit in Cologne assembled their own 935-style Group 5 car using a…
Porsche’s thinking behind the 911 Carrera RS which it launched in late 1972 was to pave the way for the most extreme Group 4 competition car possible (the Carrera RSR). Having largely focused its…
As expected, the 996-based 911 GT3R spawned by its road-going counterpart launched at the Geneva Motor Show in 1999 proved a best in class mount despite arguably the most competitive…
Aside from the super hardcore 911 GT homologation special, the most potent off-the-shelf iteration of Porsche’s 993 manufactured between 1993 and 1998 was the rarely seen Turbo S. Introduced for…
When Porsche introduced the light weight and high performance 911 2.7 Carrera RS in late 1972, they expected demand would just about prove sufficient to sell the 500 copies required for homologation…
For the inaugural International Race of Champions which took place at Riverside and Daytona over the winter of 1973-1974, Roger Penske ordered a batch of identical 911 Carrera RSRs. Uniquely…
Prior to the arrival of Ernst Fuhrmann’s exceedingly complex four cam Carrera motor which was offered in the 356 from late 1955, the ultimate engine for Porsche’s little flyer was the 1500cc pushrod…
To celebrate the remarkable feat of having produced 250,000 911s over a 25 year period, Porsche created a limited edition Commemorative model during the 1988 model year. Configured to the…