Issue link: http://digital.nexsitepublishing.com/i/659821
APRIL 2016 50 935/78 'Moby Dick'. New extremes for a "production based" race car. Photo from Porsche AG In 1994 the rule makers, once again tired of Porsche's winning ways, decided "production based" supercars should race for the win at Le Mans. Group C sports racers, like the 962, were no longer allowed. Approved cars had to be road legal and carry a suitcase. Enter Jochen Dauer and the Dauer 962 Le Mans. Dauer's highway legal road car looked strangely like a 962. This is most likely because it was. Three were entered in the race and one nabbed the victory, ably driven by a group of guys who seemed to be on a first name basis with Porsche Motorsport; Dalmas, Haywood, and Baldi. Porsche five--rule makers still looking. Subsequent years saw even wilder interpretations. Imagine sawing a 911 in half and grafting on the back of a 962c. No need to imagine, just look for a Porsche GT-1. It was road legal too, I might add. Fast forward to 2009 where diesel engines, especially challenged on nitrous oxide and particulate emission limits, were struggling to meet the tough standards. Even VW's head of powertrain at the time, Wolfgang Hatz, more recently head of Porsche RnD, thought the standards were unrealistic. Or were they? VW, trumpeting new found technical success, even eschewing a technology sharing agreement with Mercedes, brought out their new clean diesel for sale and self-certified on a laboratory test rig owned by a VW paid contractor. It passed. Silly bureaucrats. Any questions? The real mystery to all is why VW accepted EPA's ruling that the so-called defeat software was not allowed and that the rules had been intentionally broken. Wasn't it more correct that VW found a loophole in the rules they could drive a Jetta through? It was really no different than creating a 935 out of a 911. The letter of the rules was fulfilled, if not the mythical 'spirit' of the rules. In fact, in January VW made this argument in the EU portion of the case suggesting the emission software was perfectly within the letter of the rules. Are the rule makers finally going to win one? We will see. Dauer 962 Le Mans. The registration number plate must have been on the back… Photo from Porsche AG VW CEO Matthias Mueller in happier days explaining where the headlights went. Photo from Porsche AG