1988 KREMER PORSCHE 962-C, Leyton House
To an auto racing enthusiast, gazing and touching a Porsche 962-C close-up and “in the flesh” is a pinnacle experience, stealing one’s breath and jumbling normal vocabulary. Tongue-tied would be an understated way of communicating the monumental gravity that pulses from this iconic car. The 1988 Kremer Porsche 962-C Leyton House (chassis #CK6-01) on these pages is an illustrious member of the most successful family of racecars ever made.
A bold statement indeed, but the statistics will convince any skeptic. Porsche’s 962 series of Prototype sports racing cars logged a competitive lifespan at the highest levels of auto racing for most of two decades, and recorded more wins across the globe than any other type of racecar before or since. Simply astonishing.
In its day, the Porsche 962 recorded 17 world-class-level endurance victories, including 7 at the Le Mans 24 Hours and 6 at the Daytona 24-hour. Added to this — most historians include the Porsche 956 with 962 accomplishments in a unified category (the 956 was essentially a “beta” prototype of the 962), therefore the car’s list of achievements multiplies. For example, the double Le Mans-winning Joest Porsche 956 (a 962 precursor), chassis #117, won 23 times in a 52-race career over just three racing seasons (two out of three wins at Le Mans)!
In total, Porsche would produce 91 962s between 1984 and 1991. Just 16 of these cars were officially campaigned by the Porsche factory team, however 75 were sold to qualified pro-level race-team customers. Among the most popular privately built Porsche 962s were those from Kremer Racing.
Kremer, a motor sports team based in Cologne, Germany, was founded by racing driver Erwin Kremer and his brother Manfred. The two brothers race-campaigned Porsches internationally for nearly all of the marque’s formative decades, and were even one of the Porsche factory-backed race teams for many years. Besides racing Porsches themselves, the Kremer brothers’ team was also known for their highly-tuned Porsche racecars that they both competed in themselves and also sold to other teams who felt they could not get the latest “top-line” equipment directly from the Porsche factory.
Like so many race team originators, team-founder Erwin Kremer started off as a driver himself before starting Kremer Racing with his engineer-brother Manfred. Through racing and tuning Porsches since the 1960s, Kremer would ultimately record 31 starts at Le Mans. Masters of the Porsche and having developed the highly successful “K” series 911 racing Porsches, Kremer famously and unexpectedly won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Porsche 911 K3 (against faster Prototype race cars) in 1979. The team was on a roll. Kremer gradually stepped up to the “Prototype” ranks with the Porsche 936-derived CK5, a purpose-built world-class long distance racecar. Then in the early 1980s it was time to see what the Kremer brothers could do with the then-new Porsche 956 Prototype, and soon after the further developed 962-C.
To this day, a Kremer Porsche 956 still holds the record for the fastest lap around the Nurburgring or “Nordschleife,” Germany’s legendary 14-mile circuit that serpentines through the Rhineland-Palatinate forest. Kremer’s Stefan Bellof set a lap time of 6-minutes-11.13-seconds during qualifying for the 1983 Nürburgring 1,000km race. Imagine a thundering swarm of immensely powerful Group C racecars time-attacking for position at the daunting Nurburgring! Kremer Brothers Porsches have secured victories and podium finishes from the best race circuits to the most cantankerous street courses known. Ultimately, their cars have raced and won all over the world.
Tom Malloy, owner of the Kremer Porsche 962c Leyton House pictured here, comments: “it’s a driver-friendly car. Much more compliant than its (mean) looks. Everything about the 962 is easier to handle than expected. The twin turbo engine has big horsepower – but the power delivery is smooth, tractable.” Malloy continues; “its handling is balanced, predictable. The brakes are exceptional. The car is obedient, it turns like it should and goes where you point it. It does everything a racecar is supposed to do. If you’re in a competitive race, you want to be in the Porsche 962-C.”
The Porsche 956 and 962, Inseparable Siblings When the Porsche 956 (and it’s later evolution, the 962) was developed in late 1981, the intention of Porsche was to race the car in both the European World Sportscar Championship (WSC, Group C) and the North American IMSA GTP Championship. Porsche met Group C regulations introduced by FISA in 1982 with a fresh concept. The new Group C regulations led to the re-birth of the two-seat, experimental sports racecar which no longer had to be declared a prototype of a future production street car, but rather was seen as a high-performance racing vehicle in its own right.
The 956, followed shortly-after by the 962, was the first Porsche racecar with a “monocoque” chassis and an aerodynamically designed bottom that generated “ground effects,” literally sucking the car downward into firmer contact with the track surface. Further, the use of advanced fuel injection and ignition systems not only enabled the 2.6-liter engine to develop 630HP at 8200 RPM, but did this with lower fuel consumption, to comply with 1980s racing regulations.
However, North American IMSA GTP rules were different from European FISA’s Group C, and subsequently the 956 was not allowed to compete in IMSA on grounds of safety. The primary problem was that the driver’s feet were ahead of the front axle. To make the 956 eligible under the IMSA regulations, Porsche extended the 956’s wheelbase to move the front wheels ahead of the pedal box that housed the driver’s feet. Porsche also added a substantially stronger steel roll cage integrated into the new aluminum monocoque chassis. This new-version Porsche 956 became the Porsche 962.
Two factory “works” versions of the 962 were developed: the straight 962 for the American IMSA series and the 962-C for international racing. Private teams introduced their own changes, and the fact that most 962s are virtually indistinguishable to the untrained eye from the 956 that rolled out of Weissach eight years earlier cements the viability of the original core design.
During the 1988 season, the Kremer 962-C (chassis #CK6-01) on these pages was built to compete in Japan by Kremer Porsche Racing with “Leyton House” sponsorship. It was campaigned in both the FIA World Sports Prototype Championship and the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. In March 1988 at the Fuji 5000 Km, drivers Kris Nissen and Harald Grohs finished 2nd overall. In May 1988 at the All Japan 1,000 km, Kris Nissen and Bruno Giacomelli finished 1st overall. In July 1988 at the JAF Grand Prix All Japan Fuji 500, Kris Nissen crashed during practice. Since it was the end of the 1988 season, with the heavy damage the car was shipped back to Kremer Porsche in Cologne Germany, where a complete mechanical rebuild on the 962-C was performed. Kremer’s racing director has confirmed the mechanical work done on the car for the 1989 season. It was used as a back-up car during practice sessions and is believed to have raced at Fuji in March, later at Suzuka, and then again at Fuji in April. It is also believed to have raced at the 24 hours of Le Mans in June, and finally Fuji in October 1989.
In the late 1990s, the car was completely restored both mechanically and cosmetically, including engine, transmission, electronics, suspension, body paint and graphics. Also, a Salsbury “limited slip” differential was installed, shock absorbers were re-valved, and a full chassis set-up was performed, with front suspension upgrades.
In May 2000 the car returned to international racing at Spa with Ralf Kelleners at the wheel in the group C/GTP series. Kellenders immediately won the first race and broke the lap record. In June 2004 it returned to Le Mans and Kelleners put the car on the front row of the starting grid, only to have a stone chip damage one of the turbochargers mid-race. In September 2004 Casper Elgard easily won both races at Dijon, France.
The engine was completely rebuilt by Porsche Motorsports North America and every part of the engine was brand-new as of 2006. The car was exhibited at the Porsche Rennsport Reunion in 2007 at Daytona Beach, Florida. In September 2008, The Malloy Foundation, Inc. purchased the 1988 Kremer Porsche Leyton House 962-C from Canepa Designs, Inc.
Since 2008, owner/driver Tom Malloy has raced the 962-C in select vintage auto racing events, including the Southern California Historic Sportscar Festival at Auto Club Speedway, and The Monterey Historics at Laguna Seca, Monterey. The car was awarded 2nd Place at the Los Angeles Concours d’Elegance in 2009. More recently it competed on the front rands of the IMSA GTP field at the 2019 Monterey Motorsports Reunion, driven by veteran John Morton.
