1988’s edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans was an absolute classic, a legendary battle between Porsche and Jaguar. In the end, a Jaguar XJR-9 won in the first non-Porsche victory in six years. But Porsche certainly tried their hardest to win, and they put everything they had learned from six straight Le Mans wins into this car – 962-010, the ultimate long-tail 962 which is now for sale at Fiskens Cars in the UK. Porsche entered three now iconic Shell-liveried 962’s for 1988’s Le Mans. Two were repainted Rothmans 962’s from the previous year, but 962-010 was a brand new car. The 962’s were modified for the new 1988 regulations, with a new nose and a larger rear wing, along with the new Bosch Motronic MP1.7 ECU. Other upgrades included carbon front and titanium rear anti-roll bars, a new exhaust system and new turbochargers. 962-010 would be driven by Porsche’s three most experienced drivers: Derek Bell, Klaus Ludwig, and Hans Joachim-Stuck. But the real party trick was saved for qualifying, when a special high boost engine was installed in 962-010. This engine supposedly made 880 horsepower, and with Hans Stuck at the wheel, it did a shocking 3:16.64 qualifying lap – three seconds quicker than any other Porsche and six quicker than the fastest Jaguar! But while the Porsche’s had pace, the Jaguar’s had fuel efficiency. It seems strange that a 7.0 liter V12 would be less thirsty than a 3.0 liter flat-six, but that was indeed the case.
962-010 easily ran at the front early in the race, but during Ludwig’s first stint he somehow ran out of fuel. Ludwig claimed that the reserve fuel tank didn’t work, but how exactly he ran out of fuel is still debated. This would be game over for most teams, but Ludwig somehow managed to slowly crawl back to the pits using the starter motor. Now two laps down, “010” veteran crew pushed hard to get back in the game – and after many hours of p the night they were back in the lead by the morning. But a broken water pipe put them back down several laps after all that hard work by it’s drivers. After charging to the front again, another water pipe broke, losing another seven minutes in the pits. However, it started to rain and Porsche’s biggest weakness – fuel consumption, was no longer an issue. Hans Stuck pushed hard in the rain on slick tires, but as the track dried out Jaguar regained the advantage. Ludwig took over for the final stint and chased down the leading Jaguar, which only had fourth gear left in it’s transmission. They ended up finishing less than a minute behind the winning Jaguar after an incredibly hard-fought race. 962-010 only made one other race appearance, in the German Supercup championship at the Norisring where it finished second in short-tail configuration.
After the race it was converted back to long-tail spec and sold to Kremer Racing, who quickly sold it to Kerry Morse, an American Porsche collector at the end of 1988. It was eventually sold to the Historic Porsche collection in the UK, where it joined what was the largest collection of Porsche Group C cars anywhere at the time, and it made many appearances at major events such as the Goodwood Festival Of Speed and the Amelia Island Concours. 962-010 is the ultimate works long-tail 962, as the Mulsanne chicanes would be added to the track in 1990 and the long-tail would no longer be necessary. It is also the final Works Porsche Group C car, although the later Joest-entered cars were technically backed by the Works. It is also in very original condition, still wearing the patina from 24 hours of hard racing. After several years of residing in the Historic Porsche collection, 962-010 is now for sale with Fiskens Cars in the UK for an undisclosed price.
Photos: Fiskens Cars
