Whale Tale

A Modern Take On Porsche’s Legendary 935 ‘Moby Dick’ At Germany’s Lausitzring... This Is Going To Be Fast

- Guido Naumann

MOBY DICK SEPARATED the men from the boys, a brutal and evil racing car named after the malevolent whale from the novel of the same name by Herman Melville. And why? In 1978, Porsche made a laughing stock of technical regulations and put an extraordinary aero dress over the 911. Because of its large dimensions, the elongated rear and the front with the headlamps below, it really did resemble a whale. Its way outlooks, combined with a 630kW turbo engine, legendarily propelled the purpose-built beast to the world sportscar title. Now I’m here at Germany’s Lausitzring circuit, and in front of me is that very car, still in its Martini livery, the car in which Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass won the six-hour race at Silverstone. Inside, it still smells of petrol, and the seat shell and gear lever look adventurous to say the least. It’s pure nuts to think the drivers were travelling at more than 360km/h on thin straps of rubber and with zero driving aids.

I would like to jump in and do some laps, but for today this museum car is static and for display only. Because today Porsche is giving a handful of journalists the unique opportunity to drive the new Moby Dick. And not just slowly behind an instructor, but full bore. And to ensure that the test drive does not end in the wall, extra Porsche factory drivers and Le Mans winner Timo Bernhard are on hand for guidance.

I can’t quite believe everything right now. The old 935 was the best car I’d ever driven, and now I'm allowed to drive its successor. Birthday and Christmas all at once. And then, as the mechanics start to work on the car, the impact wrenches grind the wheels and the air pressure is adjusted to the tenth, I suddenly realise: they really are serious!

Before taking out Moby Dick, there will be a few orientation laps in the 911 GT2 RS. This street-legal race weapon is the basis for the new racer, so it has the same 515kW twin-turbo boxer-six in the rear.