The Porsche 936 was Porsche’s open-cockpit turbo prototype, and it won the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright three times: 1976, 1977, and 1981. The 1976 win was the first time a turbocharged car won the race overall.
This guide covers what the 936 was, how it won Le Mans three times, and what happened to its engine afterward.
Contents
Quick Summary
- What it was: An open-cockpit factory prototype with a turbocharged flat-six, which Porsche calls the 936 Spyder.
- Le Mans record: Three outright wins, in 1976, 1977, and 1981.
- 1976: The first time a turbocharged car won Le Mans overall.
- 1977: A fuel pump repair dropped the surviving car to 41st, and it won anyway on five cylinders.
- 1981: Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell averaged more than 200 km/h across the full 24 hours.
- What came next: The 1981 winner’s type 935/76 twin-turbo boxer engine went into the 956.
What the Porsche 936 Was
Porsche built the 936 as a factory racing prototype, and Le Mans was the target from the start. The car was open at the top, with a turbocharged flat-six sitting behind the driver’s shoulders. Porsche calls it the 936 Spyder, and its own Le Mans history lists the overall victories in 1976, 1977, and 1981.
The 936 was never a road car in any form. Porsche built it to race for 24 hours, and that was the whole brief.
Where It Sits Between the 917 and the 956
The 917 had already given Porsche its first outright wins at Le Mans. The 936 took that job on with turbo power instead, and the 956 replaced it once Group C arrived.
Porsche was also selling the closed-top 935 to customer teams through those same seasons, under a different rulebook. For the whole run of Porsche results in order, the Porsche at Le Mans chronology lays them out.
1976: The First Turbo Car to Win Le Mans
The 936 won Le Mans at its first attempt in 1976, and it was the first turbocharged car to win Le Mans outright.
Outright is the part worth pausing on. Class wins were familiar ground for Porsche by then. Winning overall meant beating everything else entered, and it meant a turbocharged engine had to survive a full day and night of boost, heat, and flat-out running down the Mulsanne.
The timing helped the story along. Porsche had just put the 911 Turbo on the road, so the showroom car and the race car were selling the same idea.
1977: From 41st Place to a Five-Cylinder Finish
Porsche showed up at Le Mans in 1977 with two long-tail 936s and a 935/77, and the plan fell apart fast. The number 3 car retired with engine damage. The number 4 car needed a fuel pump repair that dropped it to 41st.
Jacky Ickx got moved into the surviving 936 alongside Jürgen Barth and Hurley Haywood, and the three of them started grinding back through the field. By Sunday morning the car was out front with a lead of 19 laps.
Then a piston failed with 46 minutes left. The crew isolated the bad cylinder, and Barth brought the car to the finish on five of the engine’s six cylinders. The 936 won.
1981: The Last Win
Four years after the second win, the 936 took Le Mans again. Ickx shared the car with Derek Bell, and their average across the full 24 hours was more than 200 km/h. That average includes every pit stop and every slow lap in traffic, so the car was going faster than that on track.
The Engine That Became the 956
Under the 1981 car’s bodywork sat the type 935/76, a twin-KKK-turbo flat-six boxer. Norbert Singer, the project manager, took that engine straight into the Porsche 956. Everything wrapped around it was new, including an aluminum monocoque and a ground-effect body.
So the engine carried over and the car did not. The 956 and the 962 C that followed it won Le Mans every year from 1982 through 1987.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the Porsche 936?
The 936 was Porsche’s factory-built open-cockpit prototype racer, with a turbocharged flat-six behind the driver. Porsche calls it the 936 Spyder, and it won the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright in 1976, 1977, and 1981.
How many times did the Porsche 936 win Le Mans?
Three times, and all three were outright wins rather than class wins. The 936 took the overall victory in 1976, again in 1977, and once more in 1981.
What is the difference between the Porsche 936 and the Porsche 935?
The 936 was an open-cockpit works prototype. The 935 was a closed car based on a road-going 911, built to Group 5 rules and sold to customer teams. They raced in the same seasons under different rulebooks, which is why the names get confused.
Why is the Porsche 936 important?
Its 1976 victory was the first time a turbocharged car won Le Mans outright. The engine from its 1981 win, the type 935/76 twin-KKK-turbo boxer, then went into the 956.
Image: 1976 Porsche 936, Goodwood, 2009 by Bahnfrend, CC BY-SA 4.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.
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