1980
A New Dynasty
If the decade of the70s marked the emergence of Porsche as a  perennial threat for Le Mans victory, the decade of the 80s
established Porsche as the odds-on favorite.

1981
In 1981, Porsche again brought the 936 to Le Mans in June, this time with an entirely new chassis and a transmission capable of handling twice the original 936's output. The engine, too, was new. At least to Le Mans.  A development from Porsche's 1980 Indy 500 effort, the twin-turbocharged 2.65-liter engine boasted dual overhead cams and four valves per cylinder - race-proven technologies that now power the new Porsche Boxster  and the next-generation 911. Twenty-four hours after the start, the Indy engine had run the equivalent of nearly six  Indy 500s nonstop to achieve outright victory at Le Mans.

The 936's 1981 win marked the last victory at Le Mans for the car that sparked the rebirth of Porsche sports-prototype racing. And the first in a record-setting string of seven consecutive outright victories to solidify Porsche's Le Mans legend.

1982


For 1982, a new set of rules governed prototype sports-car racing once again. Porsche engineers went to work. The new category, named "Group C" for fuel consumption, which was strictly limited, forced the engineers to coax increased fuel economy from their engines without sacrificing outright power. Porsche's response to the rules was the Type 956, powered by a reengineered version of the Indy-based engine in the 936. Lessons learned at Le Mans about generating more power with less consumption, including electronic engine management, are today applied to every Porsche sold for the street.

A ground-breaking sports car, the closed-cockpit, monocoque-chassis 956 employed many features previously reserved for single-seat formula cars. In fact, it was the first sports car to use full-ground-effects bodywork with underbody Venturi tunnels.

After initial testing, the new Porsche was ready for Le Mans. Factory Porsche 956s bearing numbers one, two and three finished in that order, with the same Ickx/Bell driver line-up that captured the '81 race standing atop the podium.

In June 1983, Porsche returned to Le Mans with another three-car factory effort. But as is the Porsche tradition, their most exotic racer was offered for sale to private parties. Demand was high, and the factory cars were joined on the grid by eight privately entered Porsche 956's. The factory cars would win in 1983, with Vern Schuppan, Al Holbert and Hurley Haywood at the wheel. The Porsche 956 or the revised long-wheelbase, 3.0-liter single-turbo version designated Type 962 would win every Le Mans 24-hour race through 1987. Here's a rundown of those  winning cars and drivers:

           1984: Henri Pescarolo and Klaus Ludwig - Porsche 956
           1985: Klaus Ludwig, Paolo Barilla and John Winter - Porsche 956
           1986: Al Holbert, Hans Stuck and Derek Bell - Porsche 962
           1987: Al Holbert, Hans Stuck and Derek Bell - Porsche 962

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