AutoCult Porsche 924 World Record Car (1977) (Germany)

About the Original

Intended for Great Things

In the mid of the 1970s Mercedes Benz demonstrated with its record runs on the racetrack in Nardò how powerful cars could be. The achieved records impressively emphasized that and attracted attention of the global press. At that time also the management of Porsche conceived great ambitions in achieving world records in the field of long-distance drives.

For such record runs a conventional Porsche 924 was specially converted into a “record chaser”. After fine-tuning the four-cylinder turbo engine, the standard performance of 125 hp was increased to 240 horsepower. At the same time it was possible to reduce the weight of originally 1,100 kg to 980 kg, even though the fuel tank capacity ran up to 250 liters. The final component of the conversion was the car’s aerodynamic. In the wind tunnel of VW special hang-on parts at the front and rear of the car were tested until the car showed a first-class aerodynamic by reaching a drag coefficient of only 0,268. Despite these visual modifications the shape of the standard 924 was largely retained and still recognizable. All together the improved performance, the reduction in weight and the aerodynamically adjustments should enable the car to reach the targeted top speed of 280 km/h. The racecar was all set to attempt at the world record over 10,000 miles. The attempt was originally planned to take place on the racetrack in Nardò in July 1977, but this event fell through.

The management of Porsche cancelled the project even before the first mile was driven. Instead of sending the car on the racetrack, which it was made for, they put it on display in the Porsche-Museum.