Porsche Works Prototype 924-005 Restoration!

This page is dedicated to the Restoration of the Porsche works prototype VIN 924 005 as it pertains to it's time spent at TTRS from April to August of 1998. This car is one of only two Porsche works prototype 924 GTP/944 LM cars ever built. The sister car, VIN 924 006 raced at the 1981 24 Hours of Le Mans with Jurgen Barth and Walter Rohrl sharing the driving duties where they finished 7th over all, 1st in GTP 3L class, as well as taking the award for the car that spent the least time in the pits...a mere 56 minutes!
924 005 was the mule or test bed car used for the development that led to the success enjoyed by Porsche with 924 006 at Le Mans.

I should note that for identification purposes that I am using both the 924 GTP and 944 LM designations as it was known as both although 944 LM is probably more correct as the car was the prototype for the production Porsche 944. The reasoning for the GTP designation is because the formal introduction for the 944 had not been held prior to Le Mans therefore the car was not yet homologated and therefore not eligible to run in Group 4.

The following photos are of 924-005 and GTR 016 while they were at my shop. GTR 016 was acquired from Alan Hamilton in Australia who received many of 924-005's parts to upgrade his car. Now they will be returned!

As mentioned 016 was brought to my shop in March of 1998 and 924-005 arrived in April. The goal was to have 005 completed by August of that year to participate at the Monterey Historics where Porsche was the honored marque on it's 50th Birthday!

The deadline was met with assistance from Bevan Weston's Mid Valley Engineering shop at the very end, however there was a bit of heartache...

005's owner at the time Jim Edwards and myself at Monterey...both sorely disappointed as the engine in 005 would not fire. The car was to be driven by non other than Jurgen Barth at this event. A good friend of mine and Porsche expert Bob West tried in vain to rectify the problem with me and we even enlisted the factory Porsche boys who were there to support the huge display of cars that Porsche shipped over for this event, but even they couldn't come up with a solution. The car had a very unique prototype crank fire ignition triggering system that was located at the flywheel and it may have been the cause.

The photos at the top of the page are from Monterey for the most part.

Here I offer a brief summation plus some bonus photos and photocopies of 924-006 while in storage that were given to me to assist in the restoration of 005!

At this point I would like to say that 924 005 had changed hands and became part of the Matt Drendel Family Collection and upon Mr. Drendel's passing was auctioned by Gooding and Company at Amelia Island on March 9, 2012. The car is now back in Germany and available for purchase at Freisinger Motorsport, price on inquiry.

924 006 has been restored at the Porsche factory and is currently on display at the Porsche Factory Museum in Stuttgart-Zuffenausen, Germany.

It perhaps goes without saying that a project of this scope requires the effort of many to accomplish the task at hand and that is very true in this case.

Jim Edwards is a Porsche fanatic and those who know him will certainly attest to that fact. He also is a very, very hands on Porsche owner and I mean that from a "get in and get your hands dirty" type because he KNOWS how to do it. His knowledge of Porsche cars is extensive to say the least and few can match his passion for the Marque. He would come to the shop and work on this car like crazy as well as managing so many things behind the scenes to make this restoration happen. I am honored that I was able to join him in this endeavor and see 005 be put back together again.

I had mentioned above that the car was completed at Bevan Weston's shop in Phoenix. He and his crew were able to complete the car in time for it to get to the Monterey Historics when it became obvious that Mr. Edwards and I were not going to be able to. At this point one must put priorities ahead of pride and I suggested that Mid Valley Engineering would be the appropriate place to tie up loose ends. I should also say that Bevan's shop was the facility that was chosen to rebuild the very unique GTP gearbox.

At the time I agreed to undertake this project I knew that the time constraint...basically 4 months...was going to be a tough nut to crack especially since I already had prior commitments to provide track service for various Vintage, Porsche and SCCA events and I was only a one man shop. However after putting a schedule together which had me working at no less than thirteen weekend events between March 7th and July 12th and discussing it with Jim we decided that even considering the forementioned late start date it was still worth a try to get this car completed before the Monterey date and so we began the task. As the saying goes "we gave it the old college try"!

Another person who was instrumental in the restoration of 005 was Kerry Morse who from my understanding brought 005, and Jim Edwards together. Kerry was also able to provide me with some valuable information and photos via his connections at the Porsche factory. In addition he suggested and expedited the rebuild of the engine by a former employee of Andial.