Days of Steam
It's all there on page 16 of the factory drivers manual, unfortunately the text is in
German. " Wenn der motor seine betriebstemperatur hat max. 80
wasserthemperatur sollte unbedingt darauf geachtet werden, dass bei standzeit
der motor abgeschaltet wird, da anson die gefahr des uberhitzens besteht ". The
manual I am referring to is for a 1981 Porsche 924 GTR that were made in limited
numbers, no more than a couple of dozen tubs were ever built, for FIA Group 4 and
IMSA GT racing. In typical Porsche thinking, several prototypes were built the
previous year and put through the usual stress tests before a version was made
available for customer teams. Three prototypes were entered for the 1980 24
Heures du Mans, one for a German team, one for the Brits and the U.S. with Al
Holbert and Peter Gregg to pedal along. After a road accident sidelined Gregg, the
factory enlisted the services of one Derek Bell. The road going 924 Turbo ( type
931 ) had just been introduced and Porsche, as usual, saw the wisdom of having
a race version of a production car participating in the most famous sports car race
in the world. The 924 GTP prototypes had the usual Weissach touches courtesy of
famed engineer Norbert Singer. Titanium everything, axles, wiper shafts, a dash
panel that weighed a couple of pounds, center lock wheels, brakes from the 935,
etc.
The 1980 race was one of wettest in recent history and the balanced handling of
the 924 chassis was to be of great benefit as the underpowered GT simply drove
around the much faster prototypes in the rain. The slower pace helped get all
three cars to the finish posting overall results of 6th, 12th and 13th place. Pretty
good, huh ?
Trouble with classicists…
On a race track a long time ago, actually Laguna Seca during the Monterey
Historics in 1998, the 50th Anniversary of Porsche was being celebrated in a
manner most befit a company that had come to dominate sports car racing.
Anything of importance that the factory had raced was present. I was fortunate to
drive several examples that weekend but the main race to watch was the FIA
group that included 911 RSR's, 934's, 935's, two 936's and a lone 924 GTP. That
lone wasserpumper was me aboard 924-003 , the werks Holbert-Bell entry that
finished 13th at La Sarthe in 1980. The 003 chassis had a lot more history than
the other two finishers that year, 003 was shipped to Holbert who used it as visual
aid to build a small run of cars for IMSA and Trans-Am. Holbert drove 003 in the
1982 season and then it went on to do a stint with Bruce Leven in the Trans-Am in
Bayside colors. I found the car years later in Portland now being used as a club
racer and painted purple. The owner had a tile business remolding bathrooms
and this fact was featured on the car. Lovely…
Not having the funds to purchase 924-003, it went to David Morse ( no relation ) to
join his stable of Porsches including the Martini 936 that finished 2nd at Le Mans
in 1980. The point being that he would have the un-official non-werks entry in 936-
004 ( stupidly badged as 908-80 and amazing how many tosspots reported it as a
homebuilt car by Joest ) and a real werks Porsche System official car.
Part of the deal was that I would get to drive 924-003 upon restoration one day and
so it was that I found myself strapped into one fine piece of historic machinery that
weekend. Fortunately I had some test time in the car at the pre-historcis and I felt
pretty comfortable with the car. Of all the Porsche race cars I had driven, the 924
was by far the easiest and remains so to this day. So what could go wrong ? A
repeat of history, that's what. One tends to forget that race cars of the modern era
are for the most part, fairly reliable. This doesn’t always translate back to vintage
machinery. For all of the positives of the 924, the motor wasn’t one of them. The
customer GTR's that were sold suffered overheating problems and constant head
gasket failure. Get it hot once, you may get away with it but failure is certain on the
next outing. Back to the factory drivers manual: ACHTUNG: FUR DEN
WASSERKUHLER IST KEIN GEBLASE EINGEBAUT meaning there is NO fan for
the radiator. If you ain't moving, you are cookin'. I got in five solid laps before I
heard the gurgle, like farting in the bathtub, and noticed the temp gauge heading
towards sauna territory. Weekend over, the big race went on without me in that
group as I stood on pit wall watching. That was in 1998…
California Bloodlines…
Fade to present day August 2007, the 34th running of the Monterey Historics at
Laguna Seca. A tribute to roadsters that dominated Indianapolis before the rear
engine revolution took over. Having cemented their popularity the year before, is
Group 7 consisting of cars from the IMSA era, mostly 1972 through 1982. Porsche
turbos, RSR's, Ferrari 512 BBLM's, DeKon Monza's, even a Ford Capri. By this
time 924-003 had been repaired and moved back east where it lived in a
collection of Porsche auspuffers that included your usual example of greatness in
the form of a 917/30. Showing little restraint or manners, I called the owner, Matt
Drendel and asked if I could have 924-003 for another chance at Monterey as I felt
I had unfinished business with the car. For some idiotic reason he agreed with the
warning if I break it, I fix it. I sent in a last minute late entry for the Monterey
Historics and was accepted.
The car arrived on the west coast and was turned over to the capable hands of Big
Ron Gruener of JWE for preperation. Big Ron had done much of the original
restoration of 924-003 along with several GTR's and took care of several of
Drendel's auspuffers including the 917/30. The 924 needed nothing done as far
as appearance having won it's class recently at the Amelia Island Concours, the
motor was in good shape, and all systems functioned properly at a recent test at
Sears Point. So what could possibly go wrong ? ( again )
Razzle in my pocket…
I suit up and head out for Friday practice, this is a large group of close to forty cars
and drivers of varying abilities, that also includes myself but I am careful as this
isn't my car and I am grateful to Matt Drendel for the chance to be back in 924-003.
By lap three it is coming back to me, the car is quick, the boost rapid and a rocket
on certain sections of the track. I have to watch my mirrors for upcoming 935's
which have double the turbo horsepower but traffic is not much of a problem and I
am able to go around a number of other competitors. Then at the top of the
corkscrew ( always the top of the corkscrew ) the motor shuts off and the fuel
pressure gauge hits zero. I coast back to the pits and after some discussion; Big
Ron gets it fired up again on the reserve. Once back to the paddock, it is
discovered the fuel filter is packed with foam shreds from a disintegrating fuel cell.
The filter looks like a yeast infection. Big Ron gets it sorted and on the Sunday
morning session I am confident and have a great on track battle with several
RSR's. Then I hear that gurgle again and the text from manual needs no
translation. I can see the damn temp gauge is past 80 Celsius. I shut the car
down and coast down the corkscrew and back to the paddock. 924-003 won't
make the main show. Again.
I can’t turn the boost… ( sorry, Otis )
Jurgen Barth, who had finished 6th overall in 924-004 in that famous 1980 running
of les 24 heures, came over to ask what happened. The usual was the best I
could grunt. He said that his GTP also had problems but as Le Mans was a long
race you could sort out what was needed to fix the problem. Ten laps at Laguna
Seca isn't the same thing. Too bad I didn’t feel the same way.
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