02 June 2023
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Solido Porsche 935 K3 Le Mans 1980 #71
PRICE: £65.99
REF NO: S1807203
SCALE: 1/18
Porsche's 935 had already had a really successful few years when, in 1979, it won the biggest endurance racing prize of them all - the Le Mans 24 Hours. But it wasn't with a factory effort, the victorious machine was a development of the 935 undertaken by a specialist company, based in Köln, and run by two brothers - Erwin and Manfred Kremer.
Kremer Racing's 935 K3 was an attempt to mimic the revised aerodynamics on the factory 935/78s, known affectionately as "Moby Dick", with their long 'whale tail' bodywork. The K3 was a development of the Kremer brothers' earlier K1 and K2 versions of the 935.
Although the rear bodywork wasn't as dramatic as the factory 935/78s, it was certainly incredibly effective, and enabled a privately-entered K3 to take full advantage of the soaking wet conditions at the 1979 event and outpace the usually faster prototypes. Another 'standard' 935 came second, famously with Paul Newmans driving - yes, THAT Paul Newman!
Kremer's success at the 1979 race brought a flood of orders from privateers, either for new cars or for upgrades to standard 935s, keen to emulate the feat in 1980 and beyond. One such team was Dick Barbour Racing, who entered the car modelled here, with Bobby Rahal, Bob Garretson and Allan Moffatt driving. Qualifying 14th for the 1980 race, the car failed to finish, however. An interesting twist on the story is that this was actually the Newman car that finished second in 1979, upgraded to K3 spec by Kremer.
This is the third version of Solido's superb K3 casting, following on from the 1979 winner and the Jägermeister DRM version, so I knew it was going to be great. Opening doors and stunning graphics just add to this model's appeal - it's a must for any true Le Mans and Porsche enthusiast.