1978 Porsche 935 K3

For Sale at Girardo & Co.

The Porsche 935 was a factory racing version of the 911 Turbo, aka the 930. It was built for competition in the FIA’s Group 5 category, hence the 935 designation. Porsche launched it with the 935/76 in 1976, followed by the 935/77, which included customer cars.

Porsche updated it one more time in 1978 before moving on to other projects. Fortunately, for those still interested in a car that continued to dominate, Kremer Racing was building their own versions of Porsche’s 935 Evolution models. The K2, K3, and K4 versions of the 935 were available from Kremer 1977 through about 1980. A K3 like this one won Le Mans outright in 1979.

This car started life as one of about 24 factory 935s built for customers. It was delivered in the US in 1978 and raced for a few years before being upgraded to Kremer K3 specification later on. K3 spec normally meant a twin-turbocharged 3.2-liter flat-six capable of more than 740 horsepower. The competition history for this chassis includes:

1979 24 Hours of Daytona – 61st, DNF (with Preston Henn)
1979 12 Hours of Sebring – 26th, DNF (with Henn, Hurley Haywood, and Peter Gregg)
1980 24 Hours of Daytona – 2nd (with Henn, John Paul Sr., and Al Holbert)
1980 12 Hours of Sebring – 4th (with Henn, Paul Sr., and Holbert)
1981 24 Hours of Daytona – 64th, DNF (with Henn and Bob Bondurant)
1981 12 Hours of Sebring – 48th, DNF (with Henn, John Gunn, and Gary Belcher)

Henn, who owned the car, sold it in 1982. It then had a lengthy career int he SCCA. It’s eligible for historic racing events the world over, and you can read more about the car here.

1954 Allard K3 Roadster

Offered by RM Auctions, Phoenix, Arizona, January 19-20, 2012

The sleek, simplistic style of this 1954 Allard K3 calls back to Sydney Allard’s early trials cars that were built with little more than speed in mind. By 1954, however, style, comfort – as well as speed – were all combined to create this wonderful little American-British car. The cars were built in Clapham, London using a Cadillac V-8 making 325 horsepower. This car has a complete ownership history from new.

Only 63 were made, making this a rare alternative to just about any Triumph, Healey or Jaguar you’ll see at British car gatherings. RM doesn’t have it’s estimates on line just yet, but the last K3 that sold at auction as by Gooding & Co in 2009 and it went for $132,000. I would expect anything between $75,000 and $125,000. This car was for sale recently with a sticker of $125,000.

Update: Sold $57,750.