Tamiya Porsche 936. 24 hours of Lemans 1981 Champion

[tmathew1us]

The 1:1 car

The Porsche 936 was the successor to the Porsche 917, the car that finally established Porsche as an overall winner and force at the 24 hours of Le Mans. Porsche only made 3 examples of the 936. While turbo charging was not new, the 936  featured an intercooler, which had never been done before in a race car.

The main issue with the turbocharged engine was cooling, thus the prominent airscoop above the driver. The 936 won both the 1976 and 1977 24 Hours of Le Mans. However, 1978 saw the Porsche 936 finish in 2nd place, and the three 936 racecars were "retired" after 1979.

By 1981, there were several rules changes coming for 1982, and manufacturers of the cars for the top-flight Group 6 saw little value in constructing a new car that would soon be obsolete. Porsche had been working on an engine for Indy car competition. After a hasty decision, the engineers retrofitted that engine to a now-unretired 936 chassis pulled from the Porsche museum. With slight changes to the body, the Porsche 936/81 squeezed out one more victory for Porsche racing by winning the 1981 24 Hours of Le Mans. The engine from this car (a 24-valve quadruple cam twin-turbo 6 cylinder that was both air- and water-cooled) would go on to anchor the juggernaut Porsche 956/962 race cars, the most successful racing cars in Le Mans history.

 

The Kit

The Tamiya Porsche 936 kit represents the 1979 Martini version, which did not win Le Mans. The kit is typical early-Japanese style, and includes a motor. The simple cockpit and driver cannot be displayed if the motor and batteries are present. The wheels steer, and there is a curbside imprint of an engine on the bottom of the chassis. The twin-turbos and intercooler are represented, however. Care must be taken to get the rear wing supports to stand straight up.

I used aftermarket decals featuring the "Jules" cologne livery to depict the 1981 winner. The decals I used are not quite accurate in the number and sizes of the logos. Frankly, a set of decals could easily be made at home from a single "Jules" logo resized and printed on clear decal paper.

The body of the 1981 version does have some slight differences from the 1979 depiction. A completely accurate version of the 1981 car based from this kit would require different wheels and some modifications to the nose length and vents.

 

The Porsche 936 race car is, in my opinion, one of the uglier cars to win the 24 hours of Le Mans, succeeding in 1976, 1977, and 1981.  The even uglier Alpine A442B, winner of the 1978 24 Hour of Le Mans, is strikingly similar in layout and shape.

Despite its looks, the Porsche 936 it is a bona fide member of the  exclusive club of 24 Hours of Le Mans winners. The model is simple but fits together well, and if you are as much of a fan of Le Mans-winning cars as I am, this kit belongs in your collection.

 

[aurfalien]

Wow, looks hot!

[afx]

Nice work on this significant Porsche.  And I agree with you,  not one of my favorite cars either.

[XJ6]

Very Nice Job, on such a unusual Car (subject)..Interesting 

[ChrisR]

NEAT!!

[Silver Foxx]

Real nice work , a great looking build .

[935k3]

Nice job. Here is a great video of the 77 car with Ickx at the wheel  936 at lemans

Below is my model of the car he is driving.