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Schuppan 962CR: The Spectacular ’90s Supercar Based on a Le Mans-Winning Porsche

Porsche made history from 1981 to 1987 by winning the world’s most famous endurance race seven consecutive times. The 956, along with its evolution, the 962C, were the machines responsible for this feat, and one of the men who got to drive them decided to build a road-legal version in the early 1990s.
Schuppan 962CR 11 photos
Photo: Porsche AG
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His name is Vern Schuppan, and he was born in Booleroo Centre, Australia. After winning multiple state and national titles in his home country, he moved to England, where he started pursuing a career in Formula 1. As a test driver for British Racing Motors (BRM), he debuted in the qualifying session of the 1972 Belgian Grand Prix at Nivelles-Baulers but did not get to start the race. Two years later, the Aussie switched to Team Ensign. He competed in the 1974 season, followed by another move to Embassy Racing for the 1975 campaign.

In 1976 he earned Rookie of the Year at the Indy 500, then returned to Formula 1 in 1977 racing for Surtees and earning a career-best seventh place at the German Grand Prix. That year, he also drove the Mirage GR8-Renault turbo at Le Mans where, he finished second.

Schuppan repeated the performance in 1982 in a Rothmans Porsche 956, when he crossed the finish line 17 seconds behind the winning 956 of Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell. The driver continued to race Porsches for the following six editions of Le Mans but was only able to complete the entire race once, in 1989, when he finished 13th.

Porsche 962C
Photo: Porsche AG
The man was so in love with the 956 and the subsequent 962C that, upon retiring, he wanted to drive one on public roads. He managed to secure funding from his Japanese partners and established Vern Schuppan Ltd in England. The first prototype largely based on both the chassis and body of the 962C was called 962R, a 962C converted to road-legal form which morphed into the amazing 962CR in 1992.

It featured a minimally modified version of the Porsche racecar carbon fiber chassis built by the experts at Reynard Motorsport. The bodywork was extensively remodeled with the help of fellow Australian designer Michael Simcoe.

For the Schuppan, employed Hans Mezger, the legendary German engineer who was responsible for the Porsche-built TAG Turbo engine used by McLaren in the mid-1980s to secure three consecutive Formula One drivers’ titles along with two manufacturers’ championships.

Schuppan 962CR
Photo: Porsche AG
Mezger built a water-cooled 3.3-liter flat-six with twin KKK turbochargers that were heavily based on the 962C’s Type 935 unit and could produce over 600 hp. All that power was transferred to the rear wheels through a 5-speed manual gearbox.

The manufacturer claimed that the 962CR could accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (0-97 kph) in just 3.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 230 mph (370 kph).

Although it was a pure race car in road-legal guise, it was offered with convenience features such as two leather-upholstered bucket seats, a cassette player, air-conditioning, and even a rear-view camera.

Schuppan 962CR
Photo: Bingo Sports
The plan was to build 50 examples, a production total that would have allowed Schuppan to race it at Le Mans. Unfortunately, the collapse of the Japanese economy combined with the car’s sky-high production cost prevented the company from building the required units and led it to declare bankruptcy in 1994. As a result, only six cars were built by that time, some of which were marketed as Schuppan-Porsche 962CR and featured the German carmaker’s badges. Unfortunately, one of the cars was eventually destroyed in a fire, and today, only five survived.

Almost three decades later, this amazing beast derived from one of the best race cars of its era can outperform many modern hypercars. Although the project ultimately failed and, today, few people remember the 962CR, which remains one of the coolest vehicles built in the 1990s.

You can watch it being driven on a racetrack in the video below posted on YouTube by Supercar maniac.

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About the author: Vlad Radu
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Vlad's first car was custom coach built: an exotic he made out of wood, cardboard and a borrowed steering wheel at the age of five. Combining his previous experience in writing and car dealership years, his articles focus in depth on special cars of past and present times.
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