We’ve all had that fantasy of driving a race car on the street, right? Although a sliding Lexan window sounds like a pain in the McDonald’s drive thru, the overall experience would be simply out of this world, until the thought crosses our minds that driving a track-only car on the street is usually wildly illegal. Well, while the 991-based Porsche 935 isn’t a dedicated race car, it was built exclusively for the track, and British outfit Lanzante has made some substantial modifications to give it street-legal status. How about that?
If the reborn Porsche 935 slipped under your radar, don’t worry — it was an incredibly limited-production track-only special. To create it, Porsche took a 911 GT2 RS and went nuts, stripping the interior, fitting a full roll cage and fire suppression system, adding air jacks, a Cosworth ICD instrument cluster, an FIA-approved roof hatch and fuel cell, and some wild aerodynamic bodywork reminiscent of the classic 935 race car. The result was a 700-horsepower track-only weapon for 77 lucky customers. However, it wasn’t homologated for racing, so its usability is limited to say the least.
Enter Lanzante, a British specialist that won the 24h of Le Mans in 1995 under the title sponsor Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing. The winning car? A McLaren F1 GTR, which led to Lanzante becoming a servicing center for the ultimate supercar of the 1990s. If anyone’s up for a challenge, it’s them. Lanzante decided it was a shame that most 935 examples would spend their lives cooped up, so a plan was hatched — what if this bonkers Porsche was homologated for road use?
Engineered over a period of 18 months, Lanzante’s road-legal 935 project underwent some rather substantial changes. We’re talking a new suspension setup so your spine doesn’t turn into mush, new road-certified wheels, braking system revisions to incorporate a handbrake, new tires, revised electronics, and perhaps most importantly, headlights.
The result is that for a few lucky Porsche 935 owners, the fantasy of driving a track car on the street can be absolutely, 100 percent real. Now that’s what I call solving problems using money. Oh, and to cap it all off, one of the road-legal examples shown off at the Goodwood Festival of Speed features a livery inspired by Marlboro Racing — arguably one of the best liveries of all time.
However, there is an asterisk to all of this — just because the Lanzante Porsche 935 is legal for road use in Britain doesn’t mean it’s legal for road use in America. I guess we’ll just have to wait for Walter Wolf’s road-legal original 935 to come up for sale again, right?
(Photo credits: Lanzante)
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Who cares if it’s not road legal stateside? If you’re rich enough to own one of these, you’re rich enough to own a vacation house in Britain. Plus, aren’t there ways rich people get to bring their foreign cars to the U.S. temporarily for road trips on vacation and whatnot? Not to mention the Show And Display clause, which would let you drive this up to 2,000 miles per year.
It’s significantly easier to make a 1 off vehicle for personal use in the UK under Q plates. Awesome they did it to a few of these
This speaks to the exclusivity and special nature of these modified Porsche 935 models that can be driven on the street @mapquest driving directions
Definitely not 77 lucky customers. Dude in Melbourne has 2…
I hate the term “Street Legal”, what does it mean. If the car has a title and you can get plates and insurance, then it’s street legal. If you had a car stripped down and built into a racecar and returned to the street you need lights, wipers, horn windshield, etc, tires with tread, those all depend if you get pulled over and sited for not having them. A gutted interior, rollbar, 800hp, etc doesn’t matter.
I think you answered your own question. This car was missing several items necessary for presumably meeting MOT guidelines prior to the modifications..which meant it was not street legal. Those were added, passed MOT, car registered and gets a number plate…street legal.
In the UK you have to pass a Single Vehicle Approval test to get a non-homologated car “street legal”. It’s like a big MOT, with extra checks for safe external radii and stuff. It’s how kit cars and home builds get on the road.
A 991 911 with a body kit would be easy to get a pass with.
While I appreciate the engineering required to pull this off, I can’t imagine how miserable this would be on the street. A GT3 is already far too stiff for road use. I can only imagine this is akin to an overpowered suspension-less go-cart with solid tires. On the street? No thank you.
It’s basically so you could drive it to the track if you wanted to. Or just be seen in something outlandish at a car meet.
This is also why I don’t think it matters that it’s not homologated for America, you could import it under the Show And Display clause and drive it up to 2,000 miles per year if you can tolerate spending that much time in it. I can’t imagine wanting to drive that thing more than 2000 miles per year, it’s the kind of fun that leaves everything aching in the morning.
No, I have never dreamed of driving a track car on city streets. That would 100% suck. Nothing like potholes, stop and go traffic, and police radar to get me excited about a race car.
I do dream of driving my street cars on a track though. And definitely race cars on a track.
I mean sure, I guess why not? But jeez this makes my bottom tickle about as much as a camry.