SO GOOD EVERYONE WANTED ONE! The Story of the Porsche 956

[@AidanMillward]

Looking for Xmas gifts or want an end of seasn deal? Go to the F1 store using my link in the description and use code F1CYBER for 35% off site-wide (Exclusions Apply)

[@eamonahern7495]

I finally hit the subscribe button. I can't guarantee I'll watch every video but at least you have a new subscriber... who's been watching your videos for years!

[@Emira_75]

​@@eamonahern7495wow you really hold the subscribe button in very high regard 😅 As if you enjoy someone's content for YEARS and only just now consider subscribing 😅

[@superduperbooper3987]

A couple other dominant forces in sports I could think of were the Montreal Canadians in the the NHL, Rossi in MotoGP, and JBL when he beat up the Blue Meanie

[@AidanMillward]

@@Emira_75 if I remember rightly I had to do a specific video for him to subscribe. I can’t remember there’s too many people on an internet.

[@CyanRooper]

The "Nobody's Perfect" ad has got to be the most savage automotive advertisement ever made.

[@DuvJones]

It is peak Porsche marketing, they have never hit that peak since.

[@CyanRooper]

One of the greatest racecars ever built.

[@GregBrownsWorldORacing]

What Made it better was that the customer cars could snatch it away. Kremer Porsche, Reihold Joest Porsche & Brun Motosport , Kilpatrick? just going from memory were always contenders and could beat the Works Porsche. Klaus Ludwig was really great at it.

[@djpalindrome]

and one of the most beautiful

[@fqeagles21]

Awesome car, it's happening the same with the Ducati GP23 in MotoGP ❤

[@Crasher1982]

@@djpalindrome THE most beautiful, IMO.

[@mrkipling2201]

It's brilliant to learn about different types of motorsport and that's why I love this channel. In the 1980's, I only watched F1 and Group B Rallying. I wasn't interested in anything else at the time, as a youngster. Now I love learning about stuff like this. For that I thank you.

[@23GreyFox]

When you watch/listen to Nobert Singer, he always looks like a proud father when it's about this car. He can talk hours about the development.

[@Shift2Movies]

Yes, you are right! LOL

[@Crasher1982]

Because - he pretty much IS their father. :D

[@Crasher1982]

956 and 962 I call them his automotive daughters. :D

[@marks7197]

The Le Mans rules for 1982 were that Group C cars had to have a flat bottom between the axles, limiting the ground effect available from the tunnels. It meant the cars couldn't run with skirts to seal the tunnels like F1 cars had previously.

[@orionexplorer]

The 956 / 962 along with the 917, 935 and 944 were and still are my favorite looking racing sports cars. There was something about the lines and looks about those cars. Of course, my love of the 917 came from the movie Le Mans that I saw in the theatres in 1971; that's what got me into endurance sports car racing.

[@Shift2Movies]

I concur. The Porsche 911 in my opinion is the perfect car for racing.

[@MoRoarSport-VintageRacing1]

Yes. And almost any livery looks cool on the 956 /962 ! kzbin.info/www/bejne/b2W0omCXiLx_fqc

[@mikefrachel8292]

Spent the late 80s at Watkins Glen doing timing and scoring. The IMSA GTP class was insane. Loved it 1000%

[@rafleggy2fast486]

600L per 100km. I will never complain about my Miata doing 10L/100km ever again. That said, what a gorgeous car in every livery it showed up. The Rothmans one is a particular favourite, but the way it has long, winding surfaces means that most liveries and logos can look good without much effort. And, personally, speaking, its evolution (the 962) is one of my fave cars in GT7!

[@TheVeyron623]

He flubbed the math, it should be 600L/1000km. Or basically, 60L/100km.

[@RobDover]

Yep, but still just under 5mpg!

[@y_fam_goeglyd]

Fantastic story, Aidan. Really interesting. I have often wondered what TAG stood for (not so much that I had the energy to look it up). It makes perfect sense. Driving down Mulsanne holding the door shut!? That's officially insane. I used to have a sweatshirt (I was about 7 IIRC) with "Pobody's Nerfect." It went with my "Look out, here comes trouble" one. Story of my life..

[@trip5003]

Best Group C look back on youtube . Thankyou very much . I was doing my best to get into the Group C driving back in the 80's . Not enough money or luck but the dream was always there to race one and it's still there today lol , but I am way over the hill now ;-) All the Group C drivers were what I looked up too . Such skill's and driven the way a race car is supposed to be driven , no electronic help like today ...

[@jimiverson3085]

Actually, if Andretti had won Le Mans he would have had the grand slam - F1 World Champion, Indy 500 winner, Le Mans and the Daytona 500. He won Daytona in 1967 in his first and only NASCAR Grand National race.

[@palm92]

The Pre-3.5L Group C cars (WEC, JSPC, and GTP) are my favourite sports cars. Crazy. The 956 is gorgeous, and basically set the template for them.

[@jonasschiefer626]

id love a video about the porsche 935. so cool and very competitive for so long

[@Lego_Huracan_SuperTrofeo]

And so much variants as well.

[@CyanRooper]

One of the best looking racecars of all time. It looks so wonderfully over the top: ₛₘₐₗₗ wheels at the front, 🅱 🅸 🅶 wheels at the back, flattened front end, massive rear end with wings, winglets and two large turbochargers sticking out and spitting flames every time the car downshifted. Both the Porsche 935 and the Group 5 Special Production series deserve dedicated videos about how absolutely mental those cars were. Group 5 cars were like normal sports cars turned into monsters on 4 wheels.

[@Crasher1982]

I never paid attention to cars until I discovered 956/962! What beauty champion princesses! :) Love!

[@palm92]

A thing I found interesting is that the 956 at LeMans (and elsewhere) ran a "spool" instead of a standard differential, so basically a solid connection between the rear wheels. Pretty crazy.

[@maje2610]

speaking of the nobody's perfect poster, one should be made for red bull and/or max verstappen's 2023 season. THIS is a season that we are likely to never see surpassed.

[@Crasher1982]

Sure, why not. Someone design him his very own nobody perfect poster.

[@ziggystardust4627]

Do you have the Michael Cotton Group C book from 1988? I think that has an explanation of the rules in it. From memory, there was a small underside area that was required to be flat, but you could comply with that and still create large ground effect tunnels. I’ll go check my copy and get back to you if it has some useful info.

[@ziggystardust4627]

Quick check, not much different from what I posted. The flat plane area is pretty much just the area that would normally be under the monocoque. This leaves ample area for both foward diffusers and the main aft diffuser. No Lotus-style skirts permitted.

[@MARGATEorcMAULER]

Know exactly what you mean about Porsche prototypes.They all look like they're flying,even sitting still 👍

[@F2007KR]

Good Lord, this and the 962 are some of my favorite sports cars ever.

[@keeli8020]

5:58 There is a 956 mod for ams1 in the vlm gtpc mod. its absolute blast to drive

[@judgegixxer]

Another awesome quality video. Thanks for your efforts in making them and sharing your knowledge. Your vids are so much better than all the other crap out there with AI narrations and stock photos not specific to subject matter.

[@edwardburek1717]

This is why the 1980's are so venerated as far as motorsport was concerned, with the technology matched with legends of the race track and will remain so, long after snorefests like the 2023 F1 season will be consigned to the rubbish bin of history. This was the era of Group C, and you can't get more Group C than the 956 - a car so dominant in its field, it had to take another car from Porsche to end its dominance. And all those liveries - my God, those liveries. Good luck trying to compile all those. Mind you, having said all that - 1:22. Start bowing down.

[@aaronaaronsen3360]

This door holding moment in the Hunaudieres straight is some crazy moment. Made me think of the Vatanen hand at the Pikes Peak Hillclimb.

[@eelcoberg392]

In '88 when the Jaguar XJR-9 won Le Mans they still used venturi tunnels (ground effect) Great Jan Lammers story about that

[@mark4lev]

Is that the model where the rear clamshell got ripped off on the mulsanne straight?

[@shoobsey]

Aidan, I love how you combine motorsport historian with memelord. keep it up man, always get a laugh and knowledge from your vids!

[@Holden308]

Aidan ... did you forget that Henri Pescarolo and Klaus Ludwig were a 2 driver pairing to win Le Mans, in 1984?? Stefan Johansson was listed as a driver for the No.7 New Man Porsche ran by Joest Racing, but he never got in the car during the race. He stuck to car No.8 which was a DNF with engine failure after 14 hours (the New Man Joest team also had a 3rd car, No.12 which actually finished 5th).

[@jordanclark4635]

do you mean 600L per 1000km at 2:25?

[@NonFlyiingDutchman]

an engine using 600l per 100km would be pretty wild though!

[@AidanMillward]

Yeah. Miles per gallon fucked me about with that one

[@shig.bitz.3205]

The 917, 935, 936 and 962 are all in Project Cars 2, not the best but a pretty underrated sim imo! Great car and track list if you like historic or endurance racing.

[@ToyotaCorolla-qs7ml]

You should have just used the 962 for footage, its basically the same car really. The only difference was that they changed the chassis a little due to in the 956, your legs go in front of the rear axle, and for the new rules on safety they had to be behind the rear axle like you have mentioned, and had 1 turbo instead of 2, and a few other minimal changes.

[@OsellaSquadraCorse]

Front axle... Be a strange car if the driver's feet weren't in front of the rear axle! 😅

[@OsellaSquadraCorse]

962 was single turbo in IMSA spec, but elsewhere (WSC, Interserie, DRM, JSPC etc) it still had 2, just like the 956. That's why the IMSA cars have the ugly hump on top for air intake to the single central turbo, but all the other 956/962 have NACA ducts or snorkels on each side, one per turbo.

[@marks7197]

​@@OsellaSquadraCorseThere was a Grand Prix car, possible Alfa Romeo that was designed with the driver behind the rear axle, it's in the Italian Racing Red publication, it certainly looks bizarre.

[@daveblock4061]

I was fortunate enough to sit in Derek Bell's 962 at Al Holbert's Porsche North America Shop in the 80s.

[@mgrzx3367]

May 1984, place Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. First win for the 962. I was there, stoned out my gourd.

[@johnjones928]

The 956 had a 1 meter square flat plate per FIA regs ahead of the ground effect tunnels. And the 2.65 engine began as Porsche's Indy car unit, it proved unsuitable as a single seat engine but was made more than sufficient for sports car.

[@ianwynne764]

Hello Aidan: I don't know if you have been to the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, however, it's well worth a visit. This was a wonderful video. Thank you.

[@studlydudly]

Just a quick correction m8, 1984 wasnt the most dominant season in F1on record until now, as I am sure you know that would be the 1988 season.

[@GregBrownsWorldORacing]

Huge Al Holbert fan... Won in 83, 86 & 87. He's still the Goat in IMSA. In CANAM only Hulme & Tambay have more wins. He's rarely mentioned. Al has a top 4 in the only Indy 500 he entered. Glad Aiden told of that heroic1983 win, holding the door closed on the Mulsanne. It makes his death even more ironic. RIP

[@JohnSmithShields]

These sounded amazing at the Silverstone classic last year.

[@davidshekhter5284]

Excellent video. Gran Turismo 7 offers the porsche 962 c if you fancy a spin and want to add it to your video. Mine sports a very fitting Kodak yellow and black livery.

[@EffequalsMA]

So cool, thanks, Aidan!

[@Pablo668]

I love the Le Mans Porsches. Beautiful cars. and Vern Schuppan? That's a good Australian name. I get the feeling he told the racing body that he was Austrian, and the mix up happened there, and everyone involved was too embarrassed to broach the subject again.

[@eriksiddons4730]

Have you tried automobilista 2? Seems like it'd be right up your alley with all the classic f1 cars, sadly no 956 but 962 is there

[@crosbyworx7284]

Enjoyed that mate, thankyou!

[@TheAuthorizedJay]

I just found your channel over the weekend and I love the content. Will you be making anymore content on the BTCC or the Supercars series in the future? P.S., 4.8K more till the fabled video.

[@tomast9034]

i think the porsche 956 is in Project Cars 2 too...i have a cardboard model of the rothmans, or how its spelled, 956

[@paulanderson9650]

Ah yes, THAT 935...The Whittington Brothers and Randy Lanier are the closest thing to folk heros I know.

[@AdamTheMan1993]

Don't forget Ayrton Senna raced a Porsche 956 as well for Joest Racing at the 1984 Nurburgring 1000km race

[@tobihaifisch7558]

5:30 Netter Versuch, Herr Mühlwart! 😂😅

[@legoferrari14]

If the 963 is gonna be a worthy successor to Porsche's sports-prototype lineage, it's got a _long_ way to go. Currently the 963 is quite the disservice to the proud history of Penske-Porsche collaborations considering that the 917/30 Gr7 car helped contribute to the demise of Can-Am and the RS Spyder LMP2 was so effective it forced major rule changes to LMP2 to stop Porsche from beating the LMP900's & price-gouging the second-tier category.

[@bardwell0241]

Great piece of history. Wasn’t the 2.65 liter engine in this borrowed from the Porsche Indy 500 project?

[@minibus9]

awesome video

[@Spike-sk7ql]

6:15 Oh no! The video is gonna suck now😢😢. Just kidding, videos like this are always great. Thanks!

[@N-Collective]

Any time you say “a stage OR TWO” further with the regs that’s when things either get REALLY good or REALLY bad no in-between

[@Tim_3100]

Great vid

[@AntonHoward-mx9sb]

Technique D'avantgarde =TAG.

[@khotsomolepo2012]

We need a video on Stephan Beloff

[@richardpastoor9336]

Project Cars 2 has the 956 and 962 in it. Just a tip.

[@fuzzy1dk]

2:24 got the mileage wrong by a factor of ten ;)

[@AidanMillward]

Miles per gallon boi here. It went a bit tits up.

[@philllawrence1580]

4.7k!!

[@michaellavery4899]

This was what I passed my driving test in.

[@andygreener3130]

Chris Harris done a really good video on the 956 in which he interviewed Norbert Singer… I’ll let you find it and link it if you want Aidan.

[@willyum6397]

I believe in group c (at least at the start) they had a reg which allowed restricted venturis

[@OsellaSquadraCorse]

Not very restricted, the things were huge! The only flat-bottom true 956/962 was the Dauer 962LM GT1 that won Le Mans in 94, after Group C/WSC had ended (and excluding the Kremer K8)

[@willyum6397]

@@OsellaSquadraCorse oh wow i didnt know that, cheers!

[@ZedNinetySix_]

The only difference between 956 and 962 is the driver does not sit with his legs over the wheel geometry, in the 962 he sits behind it, for increased safety. So you dont atomise your legs when crumping the front.

[@johnjones928]

The 956 had a FIA mandatory 1 meter square flat plate underneath.

[@nickes6168]

That Tele' behind you looks like its got some years on it..

[@AidanMillward]

It’s 12 years old and been around a bit.

[@de-fault_de-fault]

I have a t shirt of the Nobody’s Perfect ad, but my dad bought it in 1984, at which time he was probably half my weight, and he was also 4” shorter than I am. So I think it would be extra not perfect if I tried to wear it…

[@UrMomsChauffer]

956👍🏼

[@jekanyika]

2:02 Isn't it 60l per 100km?

[@Tacko14]

I always wondered. The 962 was longer, the wheelbase must’ve been too. So the car must’ve been more stable but also less eager to turn in. And it was heavier, I suppose. So how do engineers decide on stuff like that? With the 962 they were forced to, but in general?

[@AidanMillward]

They had longer and shorter wheelbases depending on where it was running I think.

[@Tacko14]

@@AidanMillwardhmmm. The 956 was how it was planned, how designers wanted it to be, swb. The 962 was how it turned out later, lwb. Not sure but I don’t think they ever had a choice of which one to run. Interesting nonetheless. It bugs me that I was around then, as a teenager but still, but memory is so damn foggy. I was there but I don’t really, really remember. Articles in magazines don’t impact like live footage, apparently. Except for the Bellof crash, that one hurt me to the bone. Bellof could’ve challenged Senna like Prost never could. We believed that. But he was a maverick, bound to crash some day, and we saw it coming. And yet I was shocked. He was the kid you liked despite him being a pain in the donkey, and he should’ve had the chance to prove his worth. The Joker of motorsports

[@johannessamuelsson6578]

Toyota just has the upper hand now, maybe Porsche might catch up in two years.

[@andreysab3432]

You could've used the vlm mod for rf1

[@Burntoilcoffee]

JCM story next?

[@magnus8069]

955 likes before I came here, if that's not a sign from the gods I don't know what is

[@darkmalus3033]

Vid on the 917?

[@Holden308]

The Porsche 963 might go on to be a great car in IMSA GTP racing, but until everyone figures out a way to beat the Toyota's in the WEC, forget about it being a legendary WEC car. Right now the LMDh spec Hypercars like Porsche and Cadillac (and probably BMW in 2024) haven't been able to hold a candle to the LMH spec Hypercars from Toyota and Ferrari. Not in qualifying, not in racing.

[@eamonahern7495]

The MMA fighter is Alexander Volkanovski, an Australian, in the UFC featherweight division.

[@JohnSmithShields]

600 litres per 1000 km surely?

[@jekanyika]

It must be. Otherwise they would be using 6000l per race.

[@MrSpirit99]

Your math does not check out, I think. Shouldn't it be 60l/100km and not 600l/100km?

[@marcelf0252]

As a German, I want to help you: Dop-Pel-Kupp-lungs-Ge-Trie-Be You're welcome.😂

[@Mrmayhembsc]

There was no mention of Napa and the BTCC ;). Need to talk about the keyboard warriors who think it has killed the btcc (well, hybrid aswell apparently ) lol

[@randomcallsign]

beep boop I am a s3}{ bot

[@nickjasperse9903]

The op phoshe

[@sylaswoltan7082]

naturally hans is wet he is standing under a waterfall

[@LewisSkinner]

You misspelled "kilometreage"

[@AfroMyrdal]

100 liter fuel tank, 5 refueling stops allowed per 1000km. Okey, I'm not math god, but I don't think that turns into an effective Milage of 600 liters per 100km? 100 liters per 200km? Or Am I a complete nucking potato?

[@GrabowskiKarlheinz]

2:13 .... 600L per 100km 😂

[@AidanMillward]

There was supposed to be a extra 0.

[@km6832]

600 liters per 100km. My brain doesnt comprehend that for some reason so, someone explain

[@Gordanovich02]

Should be 60l/100km, or 600 litres for the 1000km race. Equivalent to 4.7mpg imperial, or roughly 3.8mpg US.

[@Zzzzzzzzz91]

4.7k to go….

[@frankdatank5002]

lol it’s not the New England patriots anymore hasn’t been that way since end of February 2019. It’s the Kansas City Cheifs now.

[@OsellaSquadraCorse]

Ah, the REAL Group C car banned because it was too good! Whatever IMSA said publicly, the results of the 962 with the longer front footwell, betray their intent.

[@AidanMillward]

That Mazda myth is one of my favourites. Purely because the Dorito fanbois get so upset when you say the car wasn’t as fast as they think it was.

[@tturi2]

you need to go to goodwood and get some footage of these cars, if they're available

[@OsellaSquadraCorse]

No, they only run demo laps at Goodwood circuit and not fast on the piddly little hillclimb. Instead get to a Masters Series race, Donington, Brands, Silverstone, they are usually at at least one per year, with 50's/60's GT & Touring Cars, Sportscars, 70s-80s Formula One, Formula Junior, 70s Le Mans cars. Peter Auto usually uploads the weekend's races on KZbin. Tickets for a Masters weekend are usually 40-50 quid, for 2 days' racing.

[@chrisdavidson911]

600L per 100km is 0.39mpg, 2.5 gallons per mile. People were complaining this was economy?

[@Leon_der_Luftige]

These bots in the comments.

[@AidanMillward]

It's a piss take isn't it?

[@mrkipling2201]

I haven't seen those sort of bots for ages. I thought KZbin had gotten rid of them?? Clearly not though...

[@F2007KR]

Beep boop

[@Tintortoise]

I'm still a little bitter about the 963 using the rs spyder/carrera gt engine. Shoulda been a turbo flat-6

[@rexthewolf3149]

This whole time I thought it did.

[@OsellaSquadraCorse]

It's a V8 turbo. Carrera GT was a V10. It needs to be based on a roadcar block (something available in the manufacturers range) and the torque of the V8 was deemed better. Plus for marketing in the US, where GT3 and LMDH manufacturers are often the same to cut entry costs, Porsche already had an N/A Flat 6 on track (same in WEC wIth the GTE), so better for the marketing to use both.

[@neo1711]

What Carrera gt are you thinking of

[@teabagmcpick889]

Excellent video as always but the thumbnail sent me over the edge & not in a good way - IT'S '5' NOT 'FIFTY' - Why you do this? Why? You say these things correctly so why you do this? Just to make me need my special room, that's why. ARRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

[@Jb33124]

And for those interested: "Naturally, Hanz is wet, he's standing under a waterfall"

[@Emira_75]

* NINE - *FIVE* - SIX

[@superferrariman]

Actually it was 1984 the last year two drivers won Le Mans (since we are being anoraks 🙃🙃🙃) en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_24_Hours_of_Le_Mans