Some Porsches with Le Mans specs have been driven on public roads for a long time, and the 963 RSP is just the newest one. Whether it’s the hiss of a supercharged boost or the thunder of a flat-12, these cars have a lot of power. These are the three best ways to get off the Circuit de la Sarthe. The 24 Hours of Le Mans takes place annually on the Circuit de la Sarthe, which features parts open to the public. This makes the event even more appealing. You can’t help but think about what it would be like if one of these beasts got loose from the track and was driven down the road as you watch the top endurance racers roar around in the early morning darkness. What a great idea, and it happens all the time. The newest Le Mans race car on the road is the Porsche 963 RSP, which was made just for Roger Penske. Although it’s a great car, there is one catch: you can only drive it on a specific road in France. Many people disagree on whether it should be allowed to drive on the streets again in the US, but Roger Penske has considerable influence. It’s also not the first time a Porsche race car like this has been driven on the road. The 963 RSP is part of a long line of Stuttgart endurance cars that have been used on public roads. Let’s look at three cases from the past. Count Gregorio Rossi di Montelera requested something unusual when he arrived at Porsche’s factory gates in 1974. When Porsche produced the extremely powerful 917/30, the final iteration of the 917 that could be purchased, it was testing a new racing chassis from the previous year. Can an old race 917 be changed to meet street standards? In fact, one of them was test car 030, which was used to check out the brand-new anti-lock brakes at the time. It had been put away since Austria, where it was used to prepare for an endurance race. Porsche removed the fins and installed a large muffler on the 5.0-liter flat-12 to reduce its loudness. On the inside, they added side mirrors and tan leather. Was the European government prepared to allow this little racer to be sold as legal street food? They weren’t. On the other hand, Count Rossi was able to obtain a license plate for an old car from Alabama officials. He got in a race car that had 620 horsepower and weighed less than 2,000 pounds and went from Stuttgart to Paris. What a brave person. In the same year, Walter Wolf quit racing in Formula One and began seeking new opportunities. Even though you may not have heard of him, Wolf is the Dos Equis Most Interesting Man in the World. He began working as a diver on deep-sea oil rigs and went from being impoverished after World War II to amassing a substantial amount of wealth. A secret bet was made between him and Enzo on how the 1977 Monaco Grand Prix would end, and he won a Ferrari. He is responsible for the rear tires and wing of the Lamborghini Countach. He even had his scent. Wolf had owned many prototype Countachs and saw how well the 935 K3s did in the 1979 Le Mans. He thought one of them would make a good passenger car. He asked for one with air conditioning and a fully leather interior. It rode higher than the stock racers and had cut-down wet-weather tires instead of full slicks. The turbocharged flat-six engine made 740 horsepower at 8000 rpm. Eight years before the Ferrari F40 was introduced, the Kremer K3 achieved a speed of over 210 mph on an open autobahn. Wolf drove from Cologne to his home in southern France. On the way, he had a small plane fly ahead with extra tires, as the trip would wear out a set of the rear tires. A racer from Britain and Australia, Vern Schuppan, won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1984 in a Porsche 956. He won the All-Japan Endurance Championship at the same time in Japan. Right away, he established his racing team and began working on a carbon-fiber version of the 962, which replaced the 956. A Japanese race fan once asked if it would be possible to make one that could be driven on the road. This is how it was. The 962LM was introduced in 1991 and featured a carbon-fiber frame and a flat-six turbocharged engine with four valves and four cams per cylinder. It had about 600 horsepower, a little less than the racing version but more than enough to move its 2,000-pound curb weight down a smooth Japanese highway that was good for pool. Even though money was tight in the early 1990s, Schuppan planned to sell a large number of the 962LM and the 962CR, which featured a more GT-style design. It is common in Japan for cars to be left on street plates in front of Family Mart stores, and this 1991 model was one of the few that was seen. Fully allowed on the street; pure Le Mans.
