WEC: Porsche is preparing a road version of the 963 hypercar

      Porsche is preparing to unveil a road version of its Le Mans 963 hypercar, and in June, such a sports prototype, suitable for use on public roads, will be revealed to the automotive world. Although this is not yet certain.

      In fact, this is not the first time that the legendary Stuttgart brand has embarked on such an experiment, as it all started back in 1970, when the victory in the absolute category in the 24 Hours of Le Mans on a Porsche 917K was won by a crew consisting of Hans Hermann and Richard Attwood.

      After that, the Italian aristocrat, Count Gregorio Rossi di Montelera, the heir to millions of the Martini family and a big fan of Porsche cars, purchased one of the 917th model cars, to be more precise, the chassis with the serial number 030, and ordered a number of necessary alterations so that that monster could be officially registered and driven at least every day.

      Additional mirrors, turn signals, a horn and a specially designed exhaust system were installed on the Martini Silver car. Moreover, this unique car is still in perfect order and is in one of the private collections in the south of France, although it is registered in the UK.

      Today, Porsche released a video dedicated to this car, and it seems that this is a hint of its plan to introduce a road version of the 963 hypercar in June. It is logical to assume that the premiere will be timed to coincide with the Le Mans race.

      In a statement from Porsche today, there are very intriguing words: "It is important to emphasize that now, when the heir to the glory of that car is achieving success on the race tracks, Porsche still has the same spirit and the same passion that half a century ago allowed the creation of the 917, suitable for use on ordinary roads. And all this makes us wonder: "What if ...?"

      The Porsche 962, i.e. the sports prototype that preceded the modern hypercar 963, also existed in the road version – according to the then regulations of the class, called Group C, it was necessary to put on sale at least 13 cars, conditionally suitable for daily use. By the way, I won the 962nd 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1994– when Yannick Dahlmas, Hurley Haywood and Mauro Baldi were the winners.

      Porsche has so far declined to comment further when asked about the road version of the 963rd, and suggests waiting until June. But they add: "However, you can start making your own assumptions."