As the Porsche Feature month draws to an end, I thought it would be a good idea to show some of the iconic liveries which have graced racing Porsche's over the decades. Our first example is a group shot of the Porsche 956/962 from the Rennsport Reunion back in 2007. Seems an awesome event.

The Porsche 956 and 962 dominated endurance racing around the world. The 956 made its competition debut in 1982 (the car with 'ROTHMANS' in Capitals is one of the first chassis). The 962 was an updated chassis with a new engine, initially 2.8 Litre Twin Turbo. There were some differences between the Group C spec and the IMSA spec cars. A total of 91 chassis were built, which is impressive for an Endurance racer.

Back to the image, the central group of cars show the Rothmans liveried works cars. The works cars were very dominant, but they did come under some pressure from non-works teams like Joest and Braun. The livery design was very simple but elegant and became iconic on a Porsche. Individual cars were picked out by coloured windshield strips to help the engineers on the pit wall (called the Pratts Perch!)

The two cars on the outside are IMSA spec Holbert Racing Lowenbrau sponsored cars. Al Holbert won three consecutive IMSA championships in between 1985-7 in a car which was built under licence by the team. Its one of the most recognisable racecars in American Racing. The livery is very similar with dark blue side panels and predominantly white top surfaces.

-Andy Blackmore

Rennsport 2007

962.com

Speedhunter's Porsche Feature Month