Porsche WSC-95 - Development

Development

In 1995, Porsche approved the beginning of a project to develop a prototype for the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) series, running under the World Sports Car (WSC) regulations. The car would not be a factory-backed effort, yet would be approved by Porsche and use some of their expertise and most of all their powerplant. Porsche turned to Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) to develop a car, yet would not put forward the money in order for a new car to be built from scratch.

TWR would therefore turn to a chassis which was remaining in their shop, a spare Jaguar XJR-14 which had never completed its sale in 1992. This car was deemed suitable enough to be used in the new prototype, although it would require extensive modifications. First and foremost, the roof of the cockpit was removed in order to comply with WSC regulations. A large rollhoop was retained in order to keep structural rigidity, with a large air scoop to feed the engine being placed underneath this in order to replace the large air scoop that had originally been on the roof. Since the motor was to be a turbocharged Porsche unit, instead of the Cosworth HB V8, two scoops had to be added to the sides of the car in order to feed air to the turbochargers. Finally, the rear of the car was modified, replacing the large two tier wing with a more normal setup that fit with the current regulations.

For an engine, Porsche would use one of their longest running motors, the Type-935 turbocharged Flat-6. Originally used in the Porsche 956 in the 1980s, the engine was still powerful enough to power modern prototypes. While Porsche's new 911 GT1s would use a 3.2 Litre engine, the WSC-95 would use a smaller 3.0 Litre engine. Although smaller, this gave the WSC-95 a better fuel economy than the 911 GT1, which would be useful over long race distances.

Unfortunately, the IMSA WSC regulations were changed prior to the 1995 season, leading to Porsche canceling the project. However, in February 1996 Reinhold Joest of the Joest Racing team convinced Porsche to give the unused prototype to his team, and for them to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. With approval from Porsche, Joest put forth the money to allow for the construction of a second car from scratch, as well as the slight modifications to the existing car in order to meet the Le Mans Prototype (LMP1) regulations. Porsche would agree to help in the development of the car only if Joest agreed to pay for the services.

Following the success of the WSC-95s in winning both the 1996 and 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans, Porsche decided to take over the project themselves. Both WSC-95 chassis underwent major revisions to their bodywork. The nose was raised in the middle, while to the sides sculpting allowed for the moving of the air intakes for the engine, necessitating the removal of the large scoop underneath the rollbar. The sides of the car were also redesigned, with the large opening for the radiator vents covered up while exhaust vents were also rearranged. The Type-935 Flat-6 was also upgraded, expanded out to 3.2 Litres. While now considered an official Porsche project, the cars became officially known as the Porsche LMP1-98s.