Thirty years ago, the sorts of cars that won Le Mans and the ones you could legally drive through Mulsanne after the race could be more or less the same. Today’s “Le Mans Hypercars” bear a faint link, if any at all, to a product someone could actually buy. But Porsche has dreamt big for its latest one-off, a project it’s been teasing for months. What if its modern 963 was road-legal? What if, in the spirit of Count Rossi’s Martini Silver 917, it could legally grace public roads? How would it look? How would it smell? (The answer, we’re told, is “very good.”) The Porsche 963 RSP saves us the guesswork.
First things first: Yes, this silver 963 is road-legal, under specific conditions, in France. It wears French manufacturer plates and race-spec wet-weather tires. Second, it is a true 963; Porsche completed this chassis last December and even secured approval and encouragement from the FIA and IMSA that it was effectively unleashing an endurance prototype on the street. And third, the car is named after its owner: Roger Searle Penske.
Indeed, the American motorsports magnate who runs the factory team that fields the 963 in competitions around the world will be the owner of this truly bespoke car. Penske hasn’t taken delivery of it yet—that’ll happen in August, at Monterey Car Week—but Porsche says he has provided direction throughout the project, and if the 963 RSP is to contest any track records in the future, it’ll be up to him.
The 963 RSP hasn’t even been nine months in the making, and the outdoor shots of the car you see here were literally snapped this morning. This car photographer’s brief Instagram video was the first image of the car online.
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It all began with a small meeting on October 12 of last year, during Petit Le Mans. Timo Resch, the CEO of Porsche Cars North America, defines it as a “submarine project,” a German phrase for something developed in secret, with the work limited to as few people as possible. The RSP was always intended to be a one-off, rather than part of a series of road-legal 963s—an experiment to envision a modern equivalent to the lone road-registered 917.
Work began with Porsche Penske Motorsport completing a fresh 963 at its facility in Mannheim, Germany, with an attention to fit and finish that LMDh Program Director Urs Kuratle said normally wouldn’t be lavished on a competition chassis. From there, the car was shipped to Atlanta to be finished, inside and out, by Ralf Strack’s Sonderwunsch (Special Request) team at Porsche Classic.
Unlike any other 963, the RSP is painted, not wrapped, in a shade of silver identical to the Count Rossi car’s; it also wears an enamel Porsche badge. Painting alone was a unique challenge for the team, as the 963’s body is composed mostly of raw carbon fiber, along with some Kevlar and metal—rough surfaces that take considerably more prep work and careful application to achieve a consistent, high-quality finish. Inside, the normally spartan 963 interior is now draped in Alcantara and leather; it’s also a little less cramped, because this particular 963 won’t be fighting for any podiums.
“When it comes to the interior, you know there’s scrutineering systems, there’s marshaling displays, there’s a lot of other systems that are in there that aren’t necessarily critical,” Porsche Penske Motorsport Managing Director Jonathan Diuguid said. “Obviously, the car will still be safe and those kinds of things, but we can take them out and make it a little more comfortable.”
That’s why you’ll notice, among other things, a 3D-printed cupholder in this 963. (Fun fact: It can even fit Porsche’s own jumbo travel mug.) The race car’s snorkel ventilation has been replaced with a typical circular vent that evokes the cooling fan mounted on the 917’s flat-12 engine. There are also headphones, and even the formula-style steering wheel has been festooned with caramel leather grips. The plurality of leather in this thing is a touch of luxury that strikes more than one sense at a time.
“It’s not only the look [of the interior]—it’s also the smell,” Strack emphasized. “If you open up the door—even the door is not completely sealed, it’s a race car—but still, if you open it, the smell that comes out of the small cabin, it’s amazing. I like the smell. Anytime I open up the door, I get a big smile on my face.”
Outside, the 963 RSP doesn’t deviate too dramatically from its racing counterpart, though there are differences if you know where to look. Normally, Le Mans Hypercars have holes in the bodywork over the wheels; these exist to relieve the pressure that causes cars to flip in a crash. There’s no need for them on the RSP, so those have been covered to achieve a sleeker profile. On the other hand, the blanking plates behind the rear wheels, intended to stop stones and other debris from flinging onto following cars, have been removed to offer a rare, unobstructed view into the back of the car. And, for a finishing touch, there’s now a 963 RSP badge fixed to the taillight bar.
Mechanically, this is a 963, full-stop. Power comes from a 4.6-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 making 670 horsepower, supplemented by a 67-hp MGU-K electric motor, as all LMDh cars have. The class typically mandates when and under what conditions the hybrid system’s full power can be deployed, but Diuguid said that’s been simplified for road use, for the RSP. It can run on electric power alone if needed, and even accepts pump gas. The ride height’s been raised as high as possible, and the dampers have been tuned to their softest setting, similarly to how they’d be adjusted for the bumpiest circuits in the U.S., like Sebring.
Take all that into consideration, and the 963 RSP is even more of a road-going race car than, say, the 911 GT1 Strassenversion was. Those old homologation specials were often detuned for emissions reasons, among other things. In contrast, the RSP, being one-of-a-kind, has an emission exemption from the EPA here in the States, and has been allowed on French roads just in time for the 24 Hours of Le Mans next week.
Porsche is clear: The RSP is not a series production car, and you will never see another 963 in the Count Rossi style, with these legal clearances, sold to a private buyer. However, while Kuratle said there are currently no plans to build a second road-spec 963, he also left the door open for the future. “Never say never. As Porsche, we like to sell cars, first of all, and if there is an opportunity, possibility to do it again, on a later stage, why not?”
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Backed by a decade of covering cars and consumer tech, Adam Ismail is The Drive’s News Editor, focused on curating and producing the site’s slate of daily stories.
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