- the last bob akin coca cola–sponsored porsche 962 imsa gtp race car is up for bids on the bring a trailer auction site.
- there's already a bid for $670,000 recorded, with the online auction set to run until august 13.
- this 962 is special because it has a stiffer and safer body structure courtesy of former lola engineer jim chapman.
those billboard-flat sides. that bubble canopy. the nose that looked like it was cut out of a solid block with a gigantic ogee router bit. to a car and racing enthusiast coming of age in the 1980s, that was what a race car looked like. it looked like a porsche 962. all other race cars looked to those young eyes like simple deviations from the basic correctness of the 962.
and the liveries with which the imsa gtp 962s ran are some of racing’s most iconic: al holbert’s blue-and-white löwenbräu cars. jim busby’s gold miller high life 962s. to that list of greats you must include the bright red, coca-cola–sponsored 962s of bob akin.
and now, finally, in the space of a mere 11 days (bidding ends on august 13), you can make one of those red cars your own. you’ll need something near seven figures in your bank account to make that happen. but as a child of the '80s, you’re probably super rich by now anyway.
up for auction on bring a trailer is akin's last 962, in all its restored and ready-for-vintage-racing glory. it wears the coke and yokohama red-and-black livery with which it ran three races at the tail end of the 1987 imsa season.
offered by fantasy junction, this 1987 porsche 962, chassis number c04, might not have won any of its three races, but it's a highly desirable chapman car. you see, the porsche factory 962s (and the 956s that predated them) were world-beating, amazing race cars, but their folded sheet-aluminum monocoques were also a bit flimsy. former lola engineer jim chapman built fresh tubs, with the blessing of the factory, using aluminum sheets sandwiching a honeycomb structure along with a billet-aluminum rear bulkhead. this dramatically increased the structure's stiffness, improving both safety and tunability.
the 962 is powered by a freshly rebuilt air-cooled turbocharged 3.2-liter flat-six making 589 horsepower. it's bolted to a five-speed transaxle. this car last sold at the 2012 mecum auction in monterey for $825,000. how much it will go for this time around is anyone’s guess at this point. but, hey, it comes with two spare sets of bbs wheels. so there's that.