Whale of a Time

THIS CAR, the 1978 Porsche 935-78 is one of the company’s most famous race cars although it only raced four times. Norbert Singer and Hans Mezger, both featured before in this column, were responsible for the aerodynamics and  engine respectively. The 935 series of racecars were based on the 930 turbo but this car had little resemblance by the end of its career.

Singer was well known for his close reading of the rule book. At that time, the race cars were expected to retain their shape or silhouette. There was nothing in the rules about fender shape so he flattened the fenders by moving the lights down. The cars were to retain their windows, which the Moby Dick did; however, a second window was installed above the original one to improve airflow to the rear wing. The rule makers had changed the rules before the ‘78 season, allowing BMW and Ford to raise their floors to tuck up their exhaust system. However, Singer used that rule change to lower the 935-78, which meant the gearbox was turned upside down.

The rules stipulated the engine block must be air-cooled. Mezger and his team changed the heads to water-cooled, which – although new then – foreshadowed today’s Porsches all of which are now completely water-cooled. Output varied between 750 and 845 hp. In the 1978 Le Mans race, Moby Dick did 366 KPH on the Mulsanne straight.

Interestingly for such a legendary car, it only raced four times and only finished twice. At its first race, the Silverstone six-hours, this car took pole by two seconds and won by seven laps. Le Mans was more problematic even though it qualified third. It could only finish 8th as niggling problems and high fuel consumption negated its speed. The car didn’t finish the last two races, the Nuremberg, and Vallelunga, where it retired with ten minutes to go while leading. </>