Porsche builds a 963 racer for the road

You’ll note those plates are French rather than German. Porsche itself admits that the headlights and tail lights operate “closer to those of a road car.” Not the same, just close enough. Close enough, it turns out, for French authorities to grant special permission for it to be driven for its debut. Other nods in the vague direction of type approval include a horn, Michelin wet weather tyres and revisions to the bodywork to cover the wheels. That was enough for the car to make its legal debut on the roads of La Sarthe.

For its first drive on the public highway, the one-off 963 RSP was accompanied by the car that inspired it. In 1975, Count Rossi ordered a Porsche 917 for the strasse which would be as close to the racing version as possible. He drove it from the factory in Zuffenhausen to Paris, and it remains road-registered to this day. Visitors to the Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard will have seen it in action. 

Back to the 963. The idea was first mooted at a trackside meeting between Timo Resch, President and CEO of Porsche Cars North America, Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President, Porsche Motorsport, and Urs Kuratle, Director Factory Racing LMDh at Road Atlanta. Between them they wanted to recreate the concept of Count Rossi’s 917 with a current 963. 

Once they got Roger Penske and Jonathan Diuguid, Managing Director of Porsche Penske Motorsport on board, the project was a goer. Roger Penske was nominated as the customer and the car adopted his initials.

Under the skin, it uses the same hybrid V8 powertrain as the racing car. We can only hope the electrification helped with the road tax bill – we don’t profess to know the ins and outs of French duty, but we know enough to understand that performance cars are hit hard. It has been remapped for smoother delivery, and adapted to work on petrol pump fuel.

The 4.6-litre twin-turbocharged V8 makes approximately 680PS (500kW) and originated in 3.4-litre form in the RS Spyder race programme. From 2006 to 2008, it had a clean sweep of LMP2 titles in the American Le Mans Series. It was then enlarged and fitted to the 918 Spyder road-going hypercar in naturally-aspirated form before being developed for the 963 racing car.

Visually, the 963 RSP uses the same Martini Silver hue as the 917, and it’s the only 963 to have been painted – the racing cars are wrapped, which is simpler to achieve on the thin composite panels. It’s inside where the RSP departs most notably from the racing car. It’s fully upholstered for one thing, while a single-piece carbon fibre seat is geared more towards comfort than support. There’s even a cup-holder.

A Macan it is not, however. The driver still has to contend with a cramped cockpit and an incomplete steering wheel rim the boss of which is festooned with buttons and dials that will require familiarisation. There’s also a harness rather than a seatbelt, and perhaps most tellingly a pair of ear defenders. Still, you won’t be making conversation since there’s no passenger seat. Well, it is a racing car for the road...

To prove that Porsche hasn’t taken itself too seriously, there are a few Easter eggs dotted around. The end plates for the ventilation mimic the styling of the fan on top of the 917’s flat-12 engine, while the tyre sidewalls feature the 1970s Michelin logo.

Usually when a car is described as a racing car for the road, the compromise leans more into the road car category. Not so with the 962 RSP. Those French ‘W’ number plates are issued to manufacturers for a specific purpose, which means Porsche needs permission to use the car on the road under specific circumstances. A racing car for the road that’s easier to use on track? Welcome to a category of one.