1981 Porsche 935/78 “Moby Dick” —SOLD
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Chassis No. 935.81.JR.001

There were only four 935/78 “Moby Dicks” built. Of the first two (built by Porsche in 1978 and run by the factory team) one is in the Porsche museum and the other is dismantled awaiting restoration. Joest, with the assistance of Porsche, built the two other “Moby Dicks” in 1981, chassis 002 being destroyed at Riverside in 1983.

This car is chassis 001 the only surviving Joest built Moby Dick.

Reinhold Joest, who headed one of Porsche’s best customer race teams, asked Porsche to lend him the drawings so he could manufacture two 935/78s in his own shop, with the goal of contesting the Gerrman National Championship. This, the first Joest-built “Moby Dick” race car of the two made, (the other was bought by the John Fitzpatrick team). It was raced by Jochen Mass for the Joest Racing Team in 1981, placing, 3rd, 2nd and then 1st in its first three races, before being leased and then sold to Joest’s customer, Dr. Gianpiero Moretti.

Moretti raced the car in IMSA events in 1981, placing second at Mid-Ohio and Portland, with Mauro Baldi, he undertook some World and German National Championship races in 1981 and1982 with good results. In 1983, Moretti raced the car exclusively in the U.S. IMSA races and then retired it, having taken delivery of a March 82G. During these races, 001 was co-driven by Bob Wollek, Al Holbert, Serel vander Merwe and Bobby Rahal, amongst others.

Moretti kept 001 for several years until selling it in 1993 to well known Swiss Porsche racer and restorer Angelo Pallavieini, who kept it for several years before selling, still un-restored, to an American enthusiast.
Once stateside, 001 was the subject of a comprehensive restoration back to the specification in which it first raced by Joest in the DRM (Deutsche Renncistcrschalt or German National Championship). The owner of 001 had the specialist of Hudson Historics regularly maintain and keep the Porsche in race ready condition. It has benefited from a cosmetic restoration as well as received an extensive mechanical service, all of which are documented with a full dossier of receipts.

800 horsepower 3.2L Twin Turbo Flat Six
Weight: 1025 kg

Race History

1981 German National Championship
22/3: Zolder: Mass, #66; 3rd.
29/3: 300Km Nurburgring: Mass, #66; 2nd.
05/4: Hockenheim: Mass, #66; 1st.
Sold to G. Moretti. Repainted red.
26/4: Riverside; Los Angeles Times GP: Moretti/Mass, #30; 14th.
03/5: Laguna Seca: Moretti, #30; 8th.
25/5: Lime Rock: Moretti/Holbert, #30; 4th.
31/5: Mid-Ohio: Moretti/Rahal, #30; 2nd.
14/6: Brainerd: Moretti, #30; 22nd.
28/6: Norisring, Germany: Moretti, #70; 2nd in German Championship race.
28/6: Norisring, Germany: Moretti, #70; 5th in 200 Miles race.
12/7: Watkins Glen 6-Hours: Moretti/B. Rahal, #30; 6th.
26/7: Sears Point: Moretti, #30; 4th.
02/8: Portland: Moretti, #30; 2nd.
16/8: Mosport: Moretti/B. Rahal, #30; 26th NR.
23/8: Road America: Moretti/B. Rahal, #30; 5th.
13/9: Road Atlanta: Moretti, #30; 22nd NR.
1982
16/5: Silverstone 6-Hours: Moretti/M. Baldi, #78; 7th OA.
23/5: ADAC Salzburgring: Moretti, #16; 4th.
06/6: ADAC Wunstorf: Moretti, #16; 5th.
27/7: Nurnberg 200, Norisring: Moretti; DNF. (Acc.)
07/8: G.P. von Deutschland, Hockenheim: Moretti; DNF. (Acc.)
05/9: Spa 1000Km: Moretti/M. Baldi, #60; 7th OA.
19/9: Mugello: Moretti/M. Baldi, #3; 8th OA.
6/11: Kyalami 9-Hours: Moretti/M. Baldi/S. van der Merwe, #7; 5th.
1983
10/4: Road Atlanta: Moretti/S. van der Merwe, #30; 3rd.
24/4: Riverside 6-Hours: Bob Wollek/M. de Narvaez, #46; 3rd.
24/7: Sears Point: Moretti/S. van der Merwe, #30; 7th.
31/7: Portland: Moretti/S. van der Merwe, #30; 22ndNR.
11/9: Pocono: Moretti/S. van der Merwe, #30; 2nd.
27/11: Daytona finale: Moretti/S. van der Merwe, #30; 7th.
1993: Sold to Switzerland.

Moby Dick History
In 1976, new FIA regulations for the World Manufactures Championship saw the introduction of a “Silhouette” formula, which benefited Porsche enormously as their new Porsche 930 Turbo was used as a base upon which to build their formidable slope-nosed all conquering 935. So successful were the “ordinary” bodyshell equipped factory and customer racing teams in 1976 and 1977 that the factory designed and built three “ultimate” 935s in 1978. They would come to be known within the factory racing department simply as the “Moby Dick” cars for their similarity to that great white whale.

Norbert Singer, the factory’s racing director, had read the FIA’s rules very carefully and the resulting “Silhouette” 935/78 stretched the envelope of the sanctioning body’s rulebook in order to make the fastest 935 ever. For Moby Dick, Singer used an aluminum tube frame chassis for lightness and then used the big brakes of the 1978 production 935s. The engine was the “standard” 935 flat six of three liters, twin turbocharged and intercooled to deliver around 700 horsepower, all driving through an “upside down” gearbox (to aid gear ratio changes in the field, and allow the titanium drive shafts to run more nearly parallel to the ground).

As Moby Dick was primarily designed to win the Le Mans 24 Hours race, it had incredibly elongated nose and tail bodywork fitted for low drag. When the FIA inspectors saw Moby Dick, they were stunned that Singer could have been so inventive and ingenious with the rules. They did force him to remove the outer covers to the doors that mad the whole side of the car one complete line, but that was as far as their protests went. Moby Dick went to the Silverstone 6 Hours in May of 1978 as a warm up for Le Mans and simply blew away the opposition, finishing seven laps ahead of the second placed “customer” 935. At Le Mans, it all went wrong, the car suffering from an oil leak which forced Singer and his team to instruct the drivers, Manfred Schurti and Rolf Stommelen, to slow down, which the did, and finished in 8th place.
In practice, Moby Dick had recorded 222mph down the Muslanne straight! Back at the factory, an engine strip down show the oil leak to had been minor and that the 935/78 could have been driven flat out to win. Despite this, Moby made no further appearances, being relegated to the Porsche museum.