People thought the GT3 RS was too crazy to be road-legal; this new race car from Porsche is on another level. Say hello to the Porsche 963 RSP, a One-of-one project that pays homage to Count Rossi’s 917 in the 50th anniversary year, made in partnership with the motorsport legend Roger Penske, whose initials form the name of the car, and is based on the IMSA and WEC championship-winning Porsche 963 race car.
Influenced by the trailblazing 917 and an audacious drive that took place half a century ago, this road-legal race car is truly a remarkable work of motorsports art, prepared side by side with the actual 963 as Porsche prepares for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Let’s find out more about this crazy and barely legal race car.
Exterior Design – Race Car Quite Literally
Inspired by the 917: The 963 RSP pays homage to the legendary Porsche 917, featuring a similar silhouette and proportions. Its design elements echo the 917’s distinctive features, creating a strong connection to Porsche’s racing history, but at the same time, it is literally a road-legal 963 race car. The car’s bodywork is sculpted to optimize airflow, enhancing downforce and stability at high speeds. The humongous wing in the rear is guilty of creating over 700 kg of downforce.
The 963 RSP incorporates contemporary lighting technology, including LED headlights and rear light strips. Every aspect of the 963 RSP’s exterior is designed with functionality in mind. From the placement of vents to the integration of aerodynamic aids, each feature enhances the car’s performance and handling characteristics. The exterior paint job is in Martini Silver, which is painted over the Carbon Fibre Kevlar body work.
Dressed Up Race Car Interior
The Interior is now trimmed in extremely tasteful bits of Tan leather and Alcantara. There is a notable addition of a 3D-printed cup holder, and the original racing-spec steering wheel, now trimmed in Tan leather. This vehicle is a teenager racing fan’s moist dream come true in real life. There are also a few “road legal” requirements that were added to this vehicle, such as a horn, turn signals, and even number plates. This is now a 963’s interior, but rather dressed up.
Porsche 963 RSP – Original Engine Retained!
The Porsche 963 RSP retains the racer’s hybrid twin-turbo 4.6-liter V-8 power unit (which itself was derived from the engine used first in the RS Spyder race car of the mid-2000s before being adapted for road use in the Porsche 918 Spyder street car), and while Porsche says it is not detuned or modified from the modern race car’s, it did revise the hybrid system’s motor generator unit (MGU) mapping to deliver smoother operation on the street than is needed for racing. The engine can now use regular petrol that can be found at any petrol pump.
The engine itself is responsible for 680 horsepower, which is sent to an XTRAC 7-speed sequential transmission. This means the 963 RSP could accelerate from 0-100 in under 2.7 Seconds and to a top speed of over 320 Km/H.
Porsche 963 – Statistics
If you are unfamiliar with just how successful this race car actually is, here’s the car’s resume since its 2023 debut in international racing competition. It got 10 wins and five championship titles (spread between drivers’ and constructors’ crowns), including wins at the prestigious Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring racing series. This is one of the most successful racing car of the early 2020s.
Porsche 963 RSP – Verdict
Porsche has not quoted the exact price of the road-legal 963, but since Porsche took an extra effort on the base 963 race car that already costs 11 million AED, the final cost would be a bit more than that. This makes the Porsche 963 one of the fastest, if not the fastest, track special race car on the road today. That itself as a stat alone is truly mind-blowing. It is a huge marketing stunt, but a rather cool one, which we all love to see. This car is a one-of-a-kind, and Porsche has no plans to make more of these race cars for the road.
