Tag Archives: kremer

Kremer 917

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1981 Porsche 917 K-81

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monaco | May 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Porsche’s 917 is one of the most legendary race cars of all time. It was produced in quite a few variations after its 1969 introduction, including the quite famous 917K and the ultimate evolution: the 917/30.

Porsche stopped racing the 917 after the 1973 Can-Am season and moved on to the 936 for 1975. However, in 1981, Le Mans changed their rules and it sort of opened the door for the 917 to return to the 24 Hour. Porsche themselves didn’t have much interest, but Kremer Racing did. With the support of Porsche, they built a new 917 to Group 6 specifications and dubbed it the 917 K-81.

It’s a Kremer aluminum spaceframe chassis underneath similar to that of a Porsche-built 917, and it is powered by a 5.0-liter flat-12. The competition for this chassis consists of:

  • 1981 24 Hours of Le Mans – 38th, DNF (with Bob Wollek, Xavier Lapeyre, & Guy Chasseuil)
  • 1981 1000km Brand Hatch – 26th, DNF (Wollek & Henri Pescarolo)

Not super successful, and after Brands Hatch, that was it for the 917. The current owner acquired this car in 2011 and used it at various track days. The 5.0-liter engine was rebuilt recently, and the whole package has an estimate of $3,800,000-$5,500,000. Click here for more info.

935 K3

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1978 Porsche 935 K3

For Sale at Girardo & Co.

Photo – 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.

Prototype Race Cars in Monterey

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Prototype Race Car Rundown

Offered during the Pebble Beach auction weekend | August 15-17, 2014

1995 Kremer-Porsche 962 K8 Spyder

Offered by Mecum

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

The K8 was an evolution of the Porsche 962. Porsche withdrew from the 1995 24 Hours of Daytona due to last minute rule changes. The Kremer brothers of Germany had been producing Porsche race cars since 1962 and they entered this “K8 Spyder” – which had been a Porsche 962 in a previous life. It uses a twin turbo 3.0-liter flat-six and only four were built. This car won the 1995 24 Hours of Daytona with drivers Jurgen Lassig, Christophe Bouchut, Giovanni Lavaggi, and Marco Werner. It also raced at Sebring and Le Mans that year without victory. It maintains its race-winning livery today. It should sell for between $900,000-$1,500,000. Click here for more.

Update: Sold $930,000.

1992 AAR-Toyota Eagle Mk III GTP

Offered by Gooding & Company

Photo - Gooding & Company

Photo – Gooding & Company

We’ve featured some of Dan Gurney’s Eagles – mostly open-wheel cars. Well here is a GTP prototype AAR Eagle. It’s powered by a turbocharged Toyota 2.1-liter straight-four making 700-750 horsepower, depending on configuration. AAR and Toyota teamed up in the 80s for sports car racing and the Eagle Mk III dominated the 1992 IMSA GTP season. Between 1991 and 1993, they won 21 of 27 races. This is chassis #004 and its major wins are:

  • 1992 12 Hours of Sebring – 1st (with Juan Manuel Fangio II and Andy Wallace)
  • 1993 12 Hours of Sebring – 1st (with Fangio II and Wallace)

It also had 12 other victories and has been owned by Fangio II since it stopped racing. It is being offered for sale for the first time and should sell for between $700,000-$1,000,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $1,045,000.

1984 Lola-Mazda T616

Offered by Russo & Steele

Photo - Russo & Steele

Photo – Russo & Steele

The Lola T600 was new for the Group C category in 1981. For 1984, it was updated to the T616. They teamed with BF Goodrich racing and Mazda to run these cars for the 1984 season. Russo & Steele is also offering the sister car for sale, too. The engine is a 300 horsepower 1.3-liter twin-rotor Wankel. Here’s a brief rundown of its competition highlights:

  • 1984 24 Hours of Daytona – 31st (with Jim Busby, Rick Knoop and Boy Hayje)
  • 1984 1000km Monza – 1st in class (with Busby and Knoop)
  • 1984 24 Hours of Le Mans – 12th, 1st in class (with Busby, Knoop and Hayje)
  • 1984 1000km Nurburgring – 2nd in class (with Busby and Peter Halsmer)
  • 1984 1000km Fuji – 3rd in class (with Busby and Halsmer)

The pair of cars were stored after 1984 until original drivers Knoop and Busby found them and restored them. You can buy them now and read more here (and check out the rest of Russo & Steele’s lineup here).

Update: Sold $132,000.

1998 Ferrari 333 SP

Offered by RM Auctions

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

The 333 SP is an interesting Ferrari. The Scuderia hadn’t gone sports prototype racing in a long time and with this car, they kind of still didn’t. Dallara designed the chassis (and built nine of the cars) and Ferrari never fielded a factory effort with the cars, instead selling them to privateers so they could campaign them.

The engine is a 4.0-liter V-12 making 650 horsepower. This is the most-successful 333 SP built, with the following achievements:

  • 1998 24 Hours of Daytona – 1st (with Arie Luyendyk, Mauro Baldi, Giampiero Moretti and Didier Theys)
  • 1998 12 Hours of Sebring – 1st (with Theys, Moretti and Baldi)
  • 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans – 14th (with Theys, Moretti and Baldi)

The car still has its MOMO livery (MOMO being the company Daytona winner Giampiero Moretti founded). It is one of 40 ultimately built (Ferrari built five in addition to Dallara’s nine. Michelotto built the rest). RM didn’t publish an estimate, but you can read more here.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $3,400,000.

 1970 Porsche 908/03 Spyder

Offered by Bonhams

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

The Porsche 908 was their prototype racer from 1968 through 1971. It replaced the 907 and preceded the 936. It’s basically a little wedge with two Batmobile-like fins out back. The engine is a 3.0-liter flat-eight making about 370 horsepower. It could top out around 180 mph. The /03 was the third evolution of the 908 and was made for 1970 and 1971 only. This car was never raced, instead used for extensive testing by the Porsche factory team. It is one of 13 908/03s built. This car, chassis #002, should sell for between $1,800,000-$2,300,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Kremer-Porsche

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1995 Kremer-Porsche 962 K8 Spyder

Offered by Mecum during the Pebble Beach auction weekend | August 15-17, 2014

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

The K8 was an evolution of the Porsche 962. Porsche withdrew from the 1995 24 Hours of Daytona due to last minute rule changes. The Kremer brothers of Germany had been producing Porsche race cars since 1962 and they entered this “K8 Spyder” – which had been a Porsche 962 in a previous life. It uses a twin turbo 3.0-liter flat-six and only four were built. This car won the 1995 24 Hours of Daytona with drivers Jurgen Lassig, Christophe Bouchut, Giovanni Lavaggi, and Marco Werner. It also raced at Sebring and Le Mans that year without victory. It maintains its race-winning livery today. It should sell for between $900,000-$1,500,000. Click here for more.

Update: Sold $930,000.