Also For Sale Red Lobster March 83G Related Book Title From R to GT3R Racing Porsches	The late Bob Akin was a great proponent of the Porsche GT racing breed. He had cut his racing teeth, so to speak, in a Porsche RSR that he shared with Steve Earle, (later to create the Monterey Historics racing event), before moving on to share several “rent a rides” with the Dick Barbour Racing team, during which he, together with fellow rent-a-riders Rob McFarlin ands Roy Wood, won the 1979 Sebring 12-Hours in a 935. Raced with success by its owner, and meticulously maintained, Bob Akin’s Porsche 935L1 is now for sale as the owner is contesting another race series. Price: $175,000. Reduced to: $159,500. Click on thumbnail for larger image Akin then formed his own racing team, bought a built-up Porsche 935, and went IMSA racing with a vengeance. He was a very accomplished and successful driver and bought a 935 K3 in 1981, racing that on and off for several years. For 1982, Bob ordered a very special 935 from Gaaco, whose principal, Chuck Gaa, was an expert fabricator, as was his co-worker, Englishman Graham, “Rabbit” Bartrills. Together, they conceived the idea of building a “Super GTP 935”, and started out by using a nose from the Lola T600 GTP car, in order to make the whole car as low and sleek as possible. A monocoque riveted and bonded chassis was designed and built at Gaaco, thus making this particular 935 unlike any other that had been seen before. The stiffness of the new chassis promised the best of the new GTP type of car, together with the proven power and reliability of Porsche mechanical parts. The usual Porsche turbocharged 3-liter engine was in use, sometimes using a 3.2 liter engine for the shorter, “sprint” races. Of course, the windshield and roof section of the road-going Porsche 930 still had to be used, but even here, Gaa used the novel approach of designing the side profile so that he effectively “tilted” the whole structure, making the screen meet the scuttle at better angle for the airflow to stream over. Because this new 935 was so different from any that had gone before, it was late being delivered, much to Akin’s annoyance, as he had been forced to soldier on in his now obsolescent K3, though he managed several good finishes with this aging warhorse. In fact, the season was hlf over before Akin could use his new weapon and the Le Mans 24-Hour race in June saw the car’s debut. It was not an auspicious occasion. There had been little time to test the car and everything was rushed. When Akin and co-drivers David Cowart and Kenper Miller went out to practice at Le Mans, they found, in Cowart’s words: “A white-knuckle ride!” Very obviously, the lack of testing time hurt the car’s performance around corners, though it was extremely fast in a straight line. Come race day, the L1s race was through in two hours, when the tank ran dry and the reserve tank refused to operate. Disappointed, the team returned to America, but more testing and development helped the car and it then recorded a fourth place at Mid-Ohio, with Hurley Haywood driving, and a seventh at Road Atlanta with Derek Bell sharing the drive. Sadly, the L1 was then damaged at the Daytona Finale when a tire let go on the banking, though not seriously. Though Akin soldiered on with yet another Porsche 935 “special”, the 935-84, the day of the 935 was past as the breed of GTP cars took over the 935s winning ways. There was no point in doing anything further with L1, and so she languished in Akin’s shop until bought by Canadian restorer Jacques Rivard in 1999. Jacques carried out a complete restoration and then sold the car to it’s current owner in 2000. The new owner, a race preparer and driver himself, set to to make L1 a winner, and stripped the car down to its bare essentials. Everything on the car was carefully gone through, new, modern shock absorbers were fitted, and meticulous attention to mounting the rebuilt 3.2 liter twin-turbocharged engine has resulted in a 935 capable of beating any other of the breed today.   Site Contents © John Starkey 2004