After the introduction of the newest spawn of the Porsche Motorsport family tree I want to showcase one of its ancestors. Finished in the same guards red as the GT3 we have here the 1994 Porsche 911 Carrera Cup 3.8 made by Schuco in a 1/43 scale.
The Porsche Cup started as a one-make racing series in 1988 with the 944 Turbo and was targeted at so-called gentlemen drivers. In 1990 with the then new Porsche 964 Carrera 2 the series switched over to the 911. In over 25 years and more than a 1,000 races racers from all over the world were able to fight it out on the racetrack. Looking at the past winners of the German series alone tells you that we are not just talking about amateurs. Names like Uwe Alzen, Bernd Mayländer, Timo Bernhard, Marc Lieb or Nick Tandy should ring a bell or two. Initially starting out from Germany, countries all around the world now have their own series and give young racing drivers the possibility to showcase their skills.
Since then every new iteration of the 911 needed an equivalent to be raced in the series and eventually led to the creation of its own series production model. In this case Porsche Motorsport started in 1993 to develop a new car for the 1994 season. The new 993 chassis was already far superior to its predecessor thanks to its 20% higher stiffness, wider track and the race car like rear axle.
The motorsport departement further enhanced the capabilities by fitting springs 5-times harder than the production car and lowering it by 7cm. The three-piece five-spoke magnesium wheels with central locks reduced the unsprung weight and were also wider to allow for bigger tires. Brakes came from the 964 Turbo 3.6 including ABS in a race setup.
Virtually identical to the predecessor was the 3.8 litre engine. It was fitted with the intake system of the new model and delivered 310hp and 370Nm even though it had a catalytic converter.
To reduce the weight even more the car was obviously stripped of most of its interior components. Additionally the power steering and the handbrake had to go. The doors were interchanged with aluminum ones and for the rear and side windows extra thin glass was used. All in all the car weighed 20kg less than the outgoing model and came in at 1,100kg dry. The reduced weight and the more powerful engine led to a 3sec faster laptime at Mugello at the hands of Walter Röhrl compared to the 964 Cup.
Cheers from Germany!
