924 Carrera GT Race Car
Car Details
Originally designed by Porsche for Le-Mans in 1980, there were 400 homologated to qualify for the production class. Only 75 were RHD, and this isn't one of them. The standard 924 Carrera GT has 210 hp. There were a number of more powerful 924 GTS models produced with 240 hp, whilst the ultimate development was the 924 Carrera GT-R with an incredible 375 hp from the same basic 2 litre engine. The 924 Carrera GT is type number 937, whilst the RHD models are type number 938. The key differences between the GT and a normal turbo are the inclusion of an intercooler with bonnet scoop, turbocharger, rear axle and bodywork extensions. Thanks too are due to Ricky Caesar, the register secretary for this model in PCGB, for his information which helped prepare my race car.
Having bought an original GT as a donor car I set about finding a shell to use as the base for my Carrera GT race car. I saw a Mk2 924 turbo advertised in Exchange & Mart. We went over to Fleetwood to look at the car and found that the shell was sound, the engine had been rebuilt and there were various boxes of parts inside and outside the bare shell. After a quick visit to another farm to see the interior we agreed a price and the car with all its associated parts were somehow loaded onto my trailer.
The original GT and the newly acquired mk 2 turbo were taken to Chris Sargeant of GCR in Leicester. The body kit was bought and modifications to the rear arches were undertaken first. After the respray was complete, a few months later the finished product was ready to take to the track for the BRSCC 2000 Winter Series.
The 924 Carrera GT was only ever available in three colours: Indian Red, Black and Diamond Silver. After contemplating other colours including a signal yellow I finally decided to choose an original Porsche colour.
Deciding to race a Carrera GT is a little bit of a gamble as no-one has raced one for almost 20 years. In the time that has gone since, the 911s have continued to develop whilst I am having to develop this car from the beginning. It's fair to say that the 2 litre engine is more stressed than the 3.0 litre SCs. I wasn't the only person thinking that a GT could be competitive in Porsche Classic however. New to the championship this year is Colin Ingram who has prepared a similar car, having had some success in a 924 in the Colway championship. His mango yellow car is visible in the Thruxton picture, top right above.
Ever since 2000 Strasse in Leeds have been responsible for maintaining and tweaking my cars between races. Dave Sunderland who has been fiddling with Porsches longer than he cares to remember, including 356's, first offered to look after my 2.7RS. He had just about got that car sorted when I went and got this one built !
The change of car has given him a new challenge to rise to. The add-on nature of the turbocharger installation on the 924 means that just about every nut and bolt in the engine compartment is obstructed by something else. Even a change of spark plugs necessitates removal of the intercooler. As we found out too, removal of the turbo is a challenge, with the steering, crossmember, oil filter bracket all getting in the way and meaning a different tool is required for every fastening.
This photograph is from the NSSCC race at Oulton Park in September 2001.
These photographs are from Donington Park in April 2002.
The next section of photographs were taken at Spa in May 2002.
The final round of the NSSCC 2002 Championship took place at Donington in October 2002 where these photographs were taken.
The following photographs are from the 2003 season, note the new colour on the sunstrip denoting the 924 GT is now a Class 2 car
These pictures taken by Steve Jones were taken at the NSSCC rounds at Cadwell Park during 2003.
These solo pictures taken by spectator Darren Bell were taken at the Porsche Club meeting in October 2003.
