Jager's 'Do I Really Need This One?' 2023 Additions

Swoon

Sweet!

Well there you go Ian. You can now see why I decided on getting all 3. Happy hunting.

Anyone who collects Le Mans cars will know there is no shortage of Porsche 911 models to collect. Surprising though, until recently, the only models of the earliest 911S from 1966 were +25 year old models from Vitesse. That situation has now been rectified by Spark.

The original Porsche 911 was shown to the public in autumn 1963. The styling was largely by Ferdinand "Butzi" Porsche, son of Ferdinand "Ferry" Porsche. Mechanically, the 911 was notable for being rear engined and air-cooled. Production began in September 1964.

In 1966, Porsche introduced the more powerful 120 kW (160 hp) ‘911 S’ to increase the performance potential of the very successful 911. The engine got a higher compression ratio, new nitride camshafts, forged pistons, bigger valves and ports and a revised exhaust system. Aside from the more powerful engine, the 911 S also had a number of chassis enhancements that improved the handling.

The first 911 to appear at Le Mans was this 911 S entered in 1966 by Frenchman Jacques Dewes who raced under the pseudonym of “J. Franc”. He was joined by his countryman Jean Kerguen, the two qualifying in 50th position in the 55 car field.

The #35 Porsche made very strong progress in the first hour, jumping 13 places to 37th position. They then gained and subsequently lost a handful of positions, and at the end of the sixth hour they were running 36th on track. By the midpoint of the race, they were up to 25th position, though with a significant number of retirements there were only 29 cars still running.



In the second half of the race, the Porsche continued to make progress, albeit helped by further retirements. At the 18 hour mark it was running 17th (of 19 runners), and eventually finished 14th (of 15 runners),completing 284 laps to win the 1601 - 2000cc GT Class. It's hard to believe that almost 60 years later the 911 is still scoring impressive results at Le Mans.





Car : 1966 #35 Porsche 911 S
Team : J. Franc {Jacques Dewes}
Drivers : Jean Kerguen (F)/ "Franc" {Jacques Dewes} (F)
Qualifying : 50th
Result : 14th (1st in 2.0L GT Class)
Model : Spark (S9735)

I don't think many cars so close to showroom spec have done so well at LM... love it, great model!

The lack of 911 Le Mans models is a mystery to me. A prime example is 1970. Years ago Spark did anounance one from that years race but it never materialised. Nice to see this one. Lets hope this opens the flood gates as gaps do need filling.

Exactly what the racing world needs, more of this. So glad that there is a model of this and I hope it breeds more.