Porsche 962

The vehicle in detail

As the 1988 season rolled into view, the Porsche 956/962 had amassed some 21 major FIA, IMSA, and Japanese sportscar championship titles and was primed to extend its record streak of six consecutive wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This success meant that, alongside the factory-entered cars, the Group C great was in high demand among privateer teams, including legendary German outfit Kremer Racing.
Offered here is chassis number CK6-88, which is recorded to have debuted in the FIA European Interserie round at the Hungaroring in April 1988. Driven by German Formula 3 champion and DTM regular Kris Nissen, the car won the opening heat before classifying 9th in race two. At Hockenheim three weeks later, the Dane was victorious in both bouts. A trip to Silverstone followed in May, but the 962 failed to the finish the Autosport 1000 Kilometres owing to engine trouble.
Given the model’s formidable success at the Circuit de la Sarthe, no fewer than 11 Porsche 962s started that year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. For the enduro, chassis CK6-88 was decorated in the Kenwood livery (as it presents today) and handed over to Grand Prix driver Bruno Giacomelli, Kunimitsu Takahashi, and Hideki Okada. The trio finished 9th, as Jaguar pipped two Works 962s to put a stop to the Porsche monopoly.
Returning to the Inserie grid, Nissen triumphed at Wunstorf before Giacomelli partnered Volker Weilder to score 10th in the FIA World Sports-Prototype Championship contest at the Nürburgring. After Weilder and Manuel Reuter failed to finish at Fuji, chassis CK6-88 ventured over to Florida for the IMSA World Challenge race in Tampa. For its American sojourn, the car was shared by 1978 F1 World Champion Mario Andretti and his son Michael. The duo banked 6th place before the Kremer 962 bowed out from its front-line career at Suzuka in April 1989, albeit trouble for the twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre flat-six resulted in an early bath for drivers Giacomelli and Giovanni Lavaggi.
The year after, in 1990, chassis CK6-88 was sold by Kremer Racing to John Wengler in exchange for a Ferraro Testarossa, Dino, and F40. It is understood that the car remained with him until 2001, being used for the occasional historic racing event. In 2009, the 962 was acquired by well-known collector Martin Overington of Surrey, United Kingdom. With him, the car appeared at various events, including the Le Mans Classic and the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Most notably, the car was driven by Derek Bell in both the 2012 Le Mans Classic and 2015 Goodwood Member’s Meeting. Bell’s outing at the Le Mans Classic marked the first time he’d been behind the wheel of a 962 in 20 years.