A beautiful Porsche 924 Le Mans racer makes its UK debut at the Silverstone Classic, headlining Porsche’s 40th anniversary since the 924 first came out. This is the factory race car #2 that raced at the 1980 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing 12th at the hands of Tony Dron and Andy Rouse.
The front-engined, rear-wheel drive 924 GTP was in storage at the Porsche Museum since its retirement until last year, when Porsche GB was entrusted with the restoration of it. It took the combined force of four Porsche Classic Partner Centers to bring this mighty endurance racer back to race-ready condition.
Porsche Center Glasgow worked on the suspension, brakes and wheels with the one in Hatfield taking care of the gearbox and drivetrain while Porsche Center Leeds was tasked with sorting the electrics and radiator plumbing. Porsche Center Swindon was in charge of the engine.
The restoration involved finding and installing a period-correct GTP engine, locating the authentic aerodynamic wheel trims and replacing the fuel tank cell with a recreation.
Four decades have passed since Porsche introduced to the world the 924 in 1976, the first transaxle model of the company, and to celebrate the occasion the British arm of the company encouraged its network to each restore an example.
Sixteen Porsche Centers participate in this celebration, with the restored cars being displayed at the Silverstone Classic. The line-up includes examples of the 924, 944, 968 Club Sport and the V8-powered 928.
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