My coolest barn (Hangar) find ever, Whittington 935

[faapgar]

I worked at a lot of IMSA races in that period.It always amazed me how much spare gear they had on board.Sad to hear of his passing.He was racing P-51 Mustangs before cars.RIP Bill

[gled49]

I met Bill at the RM Auction a couple years ago in Pheonix, He bought a 934 from a Portland racer as a spare parts car that I work on. We talked cars and 935’s, he was very cordial. We were looking at the 800 mile 930 there and I said what a waste. His first words were, Ferry Porsche handed me the keys to a car just like this after winning LaMans in 79: the gears turned in my head, and I said and you are, and he said Bill Whittington. Quite the characters racing in our golden age of racing. G

[porschyard]

Originally Posted by gled49

I met Bill at the RM Auction a couple years ago in Pheonix, He bought a 934 from a Portland racer as a spare parts car that I work on. We talked cars and 935’s, he was very cordial. We were looking at the 800 mile 930 there and I said what a waste. His first words were, Ferry Porsche handed me the keys to a car just like this after winning LaMans in 79: the gears turned in my head, and I said and you are, and he said Bill Whittington. Quite the characters racing in our golden age of racing. G

As I mentioned, I was told many times how nice and approachable Bill was. I have also been told by the same source for example that John Paul Sr. was the exact opposite and sometimes it felt like if you asked him a question or tried to approach him the looks you got you said to yourself, thank god looks can’t kill !

[faapgar]

He was the other side of the spectrum from Bill.Jr. was very nice as the opposite from his father.Senior is on his boat somewhere.For some people Karma does not exist.Ciao Fred

[ryans65]

Honored to see this bad boy today!

[porschyard]

Hey everyone I wanted to share this picture that popped up on my phone this morning from October 2020 of two incredibly knowledgeable Porsche Masters that I had the pleasure of hanging out with and the car that started me on this incredible journey of people and places. This was a dyno day for the Whittington 935 as we were chasing a fueling problem (and boy did we all learn something that day)

Jim Torres on the left and Mike Bruns on the right, two of the coolest and humble guys you will ever meet in the Porsche world. I am looking forward to hanging out with Jim at the 2023 RR VII and hope I will be able to convince Mike to make the trip out(Hint Hint)

Carlos recently ran the 935 in the Estoril classic in Portugal and was running P2 with just minutes to go and ran low on fuel on the last lap and finished P3, he is really enjoying this incredible piece of history and I am hoping to see him racing it at RRVII

Richard

[porschyard]

Here is a link to the race on October 8 at the Estoril classics 2022 in Portugal. It has been 4 1/2 years since i was lucky enough to pry the mangled 935 chassis from Don Whittington's grasp.

I am still amazed every time i hear that engine fire off, see it race or run my hands over those beautiful curves that this is the same chassis i dug out from under mounds of vintage aircraft parts in a hangar in FT Lauderdale and how Jim Torres and his team were able to resurrect this piece of history from the grave, ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE

Hope you enjoy the video, if you do please hit the like button.

Richard


https://youtu.be/smsNYJj1qYo

[jacko241]

Originally Posted by porschyard

Here is a link to the race on October 8 at the Estoril classics 2022 in Portugal. It has been 4 1/2 years since i was lucky enough to pry the mangled 935 chassis from Don Whittington's grasp.

I am still amazed every time i hear that engine fire off, see it race or run my hands over those beautiful curves that this is the same chassis i dug out from under mounds of vintage aircraft parts in a hangar in FT Lauderdale and how Jim Torres and his team were able to resurrect this piece of history from the grave, ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE

Hope you enjoy the video, if you do please hit the like button.

Richard


https://youtu.be/smsNYJj1qYo

Great video, thanks for sharing. I would love to hear the story of the negotiations with Don Whittington.

[porschyard]

Originally Posted by jacko241

Great video, thanks for sharing. I would love to hear the story of the negotiations with Don Whittington.

LOL that was a journey unto itself, there was no negotiating with Don the price was the price. The big problem was just getting through the whole process, I constantly felt like he was on the verge of telling me to get the hell out of here I am not selling you shiet and then the next second he would be buying me lunch and talking like we were old friends.

His favorite phrase was SIT DOWN, SHUT THE FUCH UP AND LISTEN TO WHAT I AM TELLING YOU. After the third time he said that to me I knew I was treading on shaky ground so I tucked my tail shut my mouth and made sure I left with that chassis on my trailer.

We had few conversations about the past and he was none to happy about some very well known 934/935 guys and what he said happened when he went off to school. He started telling me what he would like to do to them and I actually told him please don’t make anymore comments like that i don’t want to know anything about that, he is quite the character and larger than life and a encounter I will never forget !

Richard

[jacko241]

That is an awesome story, thanks for sharing. By the way, Carlos never sent me my "gift".

[jacko241]

Originally Posted by porschyard

LOL that was a journey unto itself, there was no negotiating with Don the price was the price. The big problem was just getting through the whole process, I constantly felt like he was on the verge of telling me to get the hell out of here I am not selling you shiet and then the next second he would be buying me lunch and talking like we were old friends.

His favorite phrase was SIT DOWN, SHUT THE FUCH UP AND LISTEN TO WHAT I AM TELLING YOU. After the third time he said that to me I knew I was treading on shaky ground so I tucked my tail shut my mouth and made sure I left with that chassis on my trailer.

We had few conversations about the past and he was none to happy about some very well known 934/935 guys and what he said happened when he went off to school. He started telling me what he would like to do to them and I actually told him please don’t make anymore comments like that i don’t want to know anything about that, he is quite the character and larger than life and a encounter I will never forget !

Richard

Awesome story, thanks for sharing. By the way, Carlos never sent me my "gift".

[porschyard]

He is one of the busiest people I know and it probably slipped through the cracks, I will remind him and thanks again for the program I am sure he is very happy to have it.

Richard

[porschyard]

Hey everyone well finally RRVII is upon us, it has been 5 long years since we were there in 2018 and I am excited to be going back but this time the car I started this post with will be there in all its glory. I am really glad that this car did not become another museum piece after being brought back to life by Carlos de Quesada and Jim Torres. After it’s debut at the 2020 Daytona Classic 24 Carlos has been racing all over Europe with the car including the Lemans Classic and will be racing in the Weissach Cup Class at RRVII

For all the lucky ones who will be able to attend the show make sure you stop by the ALEGRA MOTORSPORTS Pit and check out their collection which includes,
962,959, 2004 RSR, 2007 RSR, 2017 GT3R and of course the Whittington 935 you will not be disappointed.

I also have another cool story to tell that is connected to the 935 but like the 935 I have had a GAG order on me for 5 years not to tell or show it to anyone until RRVII. I have been waiting patiently to share it with the Porsche/Pelican community and I will post a picture of it here but will be starting a new thread on it next week on Thursday so watch for it, it will also be at the ALEGRA MOTORSPORTS Pit. I think it is going to put a smile on everyone’s face or at least a big WTF did he really do that 😂
I am pretty sure no one has ever seen another one like it and I am totally smitten by it.

Lastly below is a fairly recent article from the Revs Institute about the 935 and unfortunately I was not consulted before the article went to print so like most of the articles that have been written about it there is a couple of errors but it is 99% accurate and I was able to get the author to add a key fact to it, I hope you enjoy it.

I am Hoping to see and meet some of you there so look me up, I will be there from Wednesday to Sunday.

Richard


https://automedia.revsinstitute.org/porsche-935-k3/amp

[RobFrost]

Originally Posted by porschyard

so no updated pics or confirmation from porsche AG on the chassis # of the yellow tub at this point but the restoration is moving along nicely. the parts collection is growing including body parts, engine,seat, wheels, guages, etc. after a recent phone conversation with my friend that i handed the 009 tub off to it coincidentally turns out that back in the day he was a previous owner of the 009 00030 car which wore among others the # 50 flying tigers livery in 1981 so i started doing some research and was floored by the history of the 009 00030 chassis. i wont try to print everything i found but here is a "short" list. 25+ drivers that included among a long list of others, names like, barbour, newman, redman, garrettson, rahal, mears, rutherford, grady clay,etc. 70+ races with sponsors like Apple, BP, Sachs, Hawaiian Tropic, Garrettson Ent. Michelob, Electrodyne, and a host of others. est. 125,000 miles of race, track, and testing miles (WOW) in my opinion the 009 00030 car is the 2nd most significant 935 ever campaigned (1st being the 009 00015 lemans winning car. the 009 00030 was nicknamed the old war horse, a well earned title. it is currently owned by adam carolla

If it's a restoration of a bare tub part, surely all you need is the replacements for the bent panels?

Sent from my SM-G988B using Tapatalk

[RobFrost]

Originally Posted by porschyard

Well the most beautiful ass in the world has arrived at the shop after a shakedown run. Amazing what a good buff and wax job will do for a barn (hangar) find LOL

It looks amazing and more info and pics will be forthcoming in the weeks ahead. Watch for a write up in possibly Excellence before the year is up.



Richard

Looks like your team made a really nice job of it.

Sent from my SM-G988B using Tapatalk

[porschyard]

Originally Posted by RobFrost

If it's a restoration of a bare tub part, surely all you need is the replacements for the bent panels?

Sent from my SM-G988B using Tapatalk

Yes that’s a start, then a dedicated team of craftsman working 6-7 days a week for 2 1/2 years and then wheel barrows full of money and “VIOLA”

Richard

[porschyard]

Thanks to the Pelicans that stopped by today to see the 935 although we had a problem with an axle flange seal but got it taken care of by the end of the day and ready for tomorrow. Special thanks to BRUCE CANEPA, he got right on it and had a couple of his men bring us 4 seals (only needed one) all the way from Scott’s valley I believe and we are very grateful for his help.

So I have a “little” story to add this story about the 935. In march of 2018 when I acquired the chassis from Don Whittington and handed it off to my long time friend Carlos de Quesada owner of ALEGRA MOTORSPORTS he gave me a 1961 Porsche 329 super tractor as a token of his gratitude. He also took my wife and I to RRVI and let me race his Porsche JR tractor in the first ever RR tractor race. I had an absolute blast and when I returned from RRVI I could not help my self and I walked in to my shop and started a project that had been swimming in my head since the first day I brought the tractor home.

I have been waiting 5 years to share this with the Pelican community and They say a picture is worth a thousand words so I will just put this out there and let you be the judge, please be honest and let me know what you think. I am going to start a separate thread about the tractor so watch for that also.

Richard

[Synchro Joe]

Richard, clear out some of your old messages, mail box is full !

[porschyard]

Originally Posted by Synchro Joe

Richard, clear out some of your old messages, mail box is full !

Yeah I know Joe easier to send me an email
rfdanversjr@gmail.com

[mike621]

Great read! Thanks for sharing the journey.