Le Mans 1988: The One That Got Away

By 1988, Porsche’s hegemony in Group C racing was undeniable. From 1982 to 1987, Weissach’s purpose-built prototypes had dominated Le Mans and the World Sportscar Championship alike. But 1988 would be different. The factory bowed out of a full-season campaign to focus solely on a single target: victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Enter 962-010, the only brand-new car built specifically for that year’s assault on La Sarthe - and, as it would turn out, the last ever works-entered Porsche 962. She was no off-the-shelf racer either. Heavily revised to comply with new regulations and built to exacting standards, ‘010’ featured a reshaped nose, a new rear wing, and venturi tunnels tuned for the altered aero rules. Beneath the shell sat a 2,994cc flat-six turbocharged to the heavens, controlled by the latest Bosch Motronic MP1.7 system and equipped with updated KKK turbos and a new exhaust for better power and efficiency.

The suspension was equally advanced: carbon-fibre front and titanium rear anti-roll bars, all in the name of shaving milliseconds. After a brief 27-lap shakedown at Weissach, she was shipped to France, factory fresh and battle-ready.

That year’s race was set to be a showdown for the ages. Jaguar arrived en masse with five works-backed TWR cars. Mercedes-Sauber loomed large, though a practice crash forced their withdrawal. With the grid cleared of Mercs, it became a two horse race: Zuffenhausen vs Coventry.

Porsche's 962-010, now bearing race number 17 was entrusted to their all-star trio: Derek Bell, Hans Stuck and Klaus Ludwig - ten Le Mans wins between them.

Qualifying saw Stuck unleash all 880 horses. His lap of 3 minutes 15.64 seconds was the stuff of legend: 242.9mph down the Mulsanne, pole by over six seconds. A staggering 155.445mph average lap speed, with no chicanes to slow the charge.

The race began with the same intensity. Stuck led from the front, locked in a cat-and-mouse battle with the lead Jaguar. The duel raged for hours until disaster struck: Ludwig tried to stretch one more lap before pitting and ran out of fuel in the Porsche Curves. Two laps were lost coaxing ‘010’ back to the pits on the starter motor.

The comeback was fierce. Bell, Stuck, and Ludwig clawed back position after position, leading by dawn before cooling woes set them back again. A leaking water pipe required urgent repairs—twice.

As the hours waned and the rain returned, Stuck hunted down the Jaguar once more. Ludwig slashed the deficit in the final stint, unaware that Jan Lammers, nursing only fourth gear, was clinging to the lead with white knuckles. But it wasn’t quite enough. When the chequered flag fell, ‘010’ came home in second having covered just 200 metres less than the winning Jaguar, making it one of the closest competitive margins ever at Le Mans.

Just days after that emotional Le Mans finish, ‘010’ was wheeled out again, this time to lead Porsche’s Supercup charge. Repainted as car number 1, she stormed to pole and finished second at the Norisring. Two more races followed in the 1988 ADAC Supercup before ‘010’ was returned to her long-tail Le Mans guise and sold to Kremer Racing.

Kremer never raced her. Instead, she sat proudly in their Cologne showroom before passing to revered American collector Kerry Morse. Since then, she has lived a charmed life in the hands of just a few passionate caretakers, including time in one of the world’s finest Group C collections.

Today, she still wears her 1988 Le Mans livery. Unrestored. Untouched. Authentic in every pore of her carbon and Kevlar skin. She has returned to Goodwood, Silverstone and Amelia Island, and reunited with Bell in what can only be described as a love letter to endurance racing’s golden age.

Of the dozens of Porsche 962s built, few, if any, can match the story, condition, or provenance of chassis 962-010. This is not just an ex-works Porsche. This is the ex-works Porsche - an eyewitness to the final act of Weissach’s factory Group C era.

Offered now in exquisite ‘timewarp’ condition with Fiskens and available to view on The Showroom.