Brunei plate: BQ126 VIN: TP99620133 962-133
Chassis 962-133 was ordered by Dauer to replace Porsche 962-112 and to be used along with the “unnamed” Thompson chassis that he ordered and received in 1987. Chassis 962-112 was sold to Dahmen racing, and the Thompson chassis was raced under the old 962-112, while the new Porsche 962-133 chassis was raced as 133. The whole story can be found here:
The History of Porsche 962-112.
After the car was retired, it was built into a Dauer 962 LM and painted bright yellow to match the other cars in the Sultan’s collection (there are hundreds of cars all painted the same shade of yellow in the collection). Sometime after delivery in Brunei, the car was shipped back to Dauer where there were some updates done (perhaps and updated semi-automatic transmission and hydraulic suspension), and the interior was swapped out for red.
Update February 26, 2021 – The story of chassis 133 seems to get more and more complicated with more research. While it’s not known which chassis the prototype body used when first displayed at the IAA show in 1993, it would seem likely that it may have been 962-133. This may have also been the chassis used with the configuration of the car that was driven around Sarthe at Le Mans in 1994 – it makes logical sense, as Dauer would have had it readily available from the old racing days (to that matter, chassis 962-141 would have also been available as well, although it might have been still damaged at the time).
Also curious are photos from 1997 which clearly show the yellow prototype car photographed next to the yellow Brunei car. If the presumption is that chassis 962-133 was indeed used for the Sultan’s car, then it remains to be seen which chassis was used for the prototype car located next to it. It was originally theorized that 962-169 was used, but this is not possible because 962-169 was converted into GT001 for Le Mans, and all three of those cars have been well accounted for since the 1994 Le Mans race (see above for details).
Research is continuing on this, but it’s not likely that we will never know the story exactly.
Dauer 962 Le Mans 962-133 as raced in the early 1990s.
Dauer 962 Le Mans 962-133 as seen in the Sultan of Brunei’s collection
Dauer 962 Le Mans 962-133 as seen in the Sultan of Brunei’s collection
Dauer 962 Le Mans 962-133 as seen in the Sultan of Brunei’s collection (silver rear decklid, lower left corner)
Registration paperwork for Dauer 962 Le Mans 962-133
“The Bumble Bee car”
Completed and registered in late 2001, this car is the only Dauer-sold car that was not sold to the Sultan of Brunei. Currently residing in Norway (or perhaps Sweden), it has the latest and greatest options installed, such as an automatic shifting gearbox similar to the F1 box pioneered by Ferrari first on the Ferrari 355. The car was left decorated in bare carbon but has yellow stripes that run down the car horizontally.
Some websites seem to label this car as 962-133, but photographic evidence of the car shows that Dauer labeled this car as 962 -8 001, which indicates that is a chassis that came from Porsche’s test department. In the 1990s, Dauer crashed 962-141 and needed a replacement chassis. Porsche had an extra chassis that they had been testing an 8-cylinder Porsche 928 variant in, and this chassis was labeled as 962.08.001. The history on where this chassis went is murky, as there are a few 962-141 cars in existence today, but it is presumed that the 8-cylinder test chassis was built into this “bumble bee” car because the chassis VIN plate indicates it as so.
Dauer 962 Le Mans 962 -8 001 VIN plate located on the back panel between the driver and passenger’s seats.
Dauer 962 Le Mans 962 -8 001 “Bumble Bee”
Dauer 962 Le Mans 962 -8 001 “Bumble Bee”
Dauer 962 Le Mans 962 -8 001 “Bumble Bee”