Le Mans-winning Porsche 956 to star at Gooding & Co's Pebble Beach sale

At its 2015 Pebble Beach Auction, Gooding & Company will offer the factory Porsche 956 in which Vern Schuppan, Hurley Haywood and Al Holbert won the 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans…

Chassis 003 might not have been a new car prepared especially for Le Mans in 1983, having scored victories the previous year at Sebring, Brands Hatch and Fuji (and second place at La Sarthe), but itwas very well sorted. Though Derek Bell and Jacky Ickx – both gunning for their third Le Mans victory together – put the number one car on pole position, an early collision, resulting in an agonisingly long pit-stop, put them out of contention… until the very last laps, at least.

War of attrition

Suffering serious temperature issues in the final 15 minutes (after prior damage), Holbert was being quickly reeled in by Bell – who had un-lapped himself in what was to be arguably the most dramatic finish at Le Mans since 1969. Fortunately, Holbert’s mechanical sympathy came to the fore and he was able to nurse the car home, stopping millimetres over the line with an almost entirely seized engine but, crucially, a minute ahead of Bell. Porsche 956s took nine of the top 10 positions in that race – a feat attesting to the car’s superb durability and performance.

Belonging to several collectors since, the first of whom was Schuppan himself, 956-003 is one of the most successful 956s in existence. It will cross the block at Gooding & Company’s Pebble Beach sale on 15-16 August, estimated at 7-9m US dollars – an intriguing sum given that the car failed to sell at auction in 2007; at just 2m dollars...

Photos: Porsche, DPPI, Mathieu Heurtault

You can find the full Gooding & Company Pebble Beach Auctions catalogue in the Classic Driver Market.

DREAM WHEELS HERITAGE XJ750 SCRAMBLER

posted by Ross Sharp

Another week, another display of fine two-wheeled Portuguese craftsmanship. Hélder Moura is the founder of Dream Wheels Heritage in Porto, one of the apparent epicentres for European custom motorcycle building. The City Fly andCopper featured in the ‘Shed a few months back and were very well received. This XJ750 Scrambler has just been delivered to a delighted new owner down the coast in Lisbon.

Fellow countryman and visualisation wizard Richie Motorcycle Designs put together a render for Hélder to work to, highlighting the attributes of a less frequently used donor, Yamaha’s four cylinder, shaft drive plain Jane from 1983. As we all know, the prices of traditional and exotic project bases are skyrocketing so why not look sideways for an alternative. A brace of cams, 3/4 of a litre, 80-odd ponies and low maintenance transmission; makes for a sensible recipe. And being the Seca model for faux-chopper lovers, the frame lends itself to the low and flat lines of a scrambler or brat-style builds.

To achieve a more nimble scrambler feel the obvious place to start was the fuel tank, so Hélder shortened and slimmed-down the XJ’s original. To continue the flat bone line the stock subframe was removed and replaced by a neater handmade version, the cross stitched saddle is also an in-house fabrication. Hagon shocks prop up the new and improved rear end.

The trend for extreme knobblies seems to be waning and decent dual sport rubber is starting to feature more often on street based scramblers, in this case the tried and tested Metzeler Karoo 3 are fitted, 110/18 in the front and 140/18 out back. Fenders are hand rolled in-house, the rear being integrated with a bespoke LED tailight.

The off-road theme is set by the headlight from a UMM 4×4, a Portuguese jeep type thing. Enduro fat bars are fitted with Biltwell Thrusters to match the seat. Mixing materials has also proved popular of late, here wooden foot peg inserts and a leather wrapped speedo soften the palette.

The engine and shaft drive was in rude health, requiring only a full service, carb balance and valve adjustment to ensure miles of trouble-free riding for the new owner. That said, a few decades of weather had taken their toll on the paint so this was stripped back and recoated. The stator cover received closer attention, with a mirror polished finish and engraving. Megaton reverse cone pipes deliver the noise without looking shouty, leaving the rest of the bike to do the talking.

With just a few builds under its belt Dream Wheels Heritage is certainly putting itself on the map, albeit one with quite a number pins already. There are build photos of this XJ over on their Facebook page and you can chat with Hélder about your project via his website.

via The Bike Shed

Russian Made Motorcycle - It floats, it packs, it gets you where you need to go

Russian Made Motorcycle - It floats, it packs... par Riders-Match

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