Photography Brian Cleary, Porsche Archives & Getty Images . Taken from Motor Sport, February 2016

From conception its road-car roots were obvious, a familiar sculpture cloaked with bolt-on extras typical of many 1970s racing cars. But it didn’t remain that way for long. Notionally derived from the standard 911, Porsche’s 935 soon became a sleeker, more dramatic alternative – linchpin of the company’s World Championship for Makes challenge.

It was a winner in its first season, 1976, and scored its final major race victory in 1984, at Sebring. Between times it notched up countless outright and class wins, a couple of world championship titles, a raft of IMSA honours and one outright Le Mans success. We spoke to a number of prominent drivers about 935 memories and their thoughts are gathered on the following pages. First, though, we approached the car’s architect Norbert Singer.