One of my top “must do” motorsport items is to attend the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The race is unequivocally historic, it is fast as hell, it is one of the great traditions in racing and it still draws out the best cars and drivers in the world. Having read virtually virtually everything I have ever been able to get my hands on about the course and the place, the only thing that is scratching my itch currently is watching old in-car or on-car videos of some legendary machines making laps of the course. In this case it is a Porsche 936 hauling buckets of ass around the famed course with the German driver giving us a narration the whole way.
The 936 was a follow up to the almighty 917 which was a beastial car that made some 1,200hp and was manageable by only the top racing talent in the world. It was a car that frightened the daylights out of many drivers and pushed people’s courage and ability to their absolute limits.
The 936 used a turbocharged flat six engine and had many of the same visual lines as the 917 if just slightly more refined and evolved. It did not make the 1,200hp the vicious Can-Am version of the 917 made but as you will see the thing was an absolute rocket in its own right. We’re guessing this film was made when the Porsche factory team was out for practice because all you see is the 936 just running by Porsche GT cars like they are in reverse.
There’s LOTS of time to think at Le Mans and one of the reasons why the race is so punishing on the cars is because of the expansive straights where just simply just have to hammer down and let the car run as hard as it will go. This video is an ultimate illustration of that!
