The Porsche 956/962 was and still is the most succesfull racecar ever made. Never did a purpose-built racecar win as many great races as Porsche's Group C racer 956/962 and did so over a very long period of time. The 956 was designed for the FIA Group C rules that came in effect in 1982 and when the 956 took part it had a geat shot at the win, always. It remained that way well in to the early 1990's when the 956 had long before (1985) changed into the Porsche 962; basically the same car with it's main difference being a lengthened wheelbase which allowed Porsche to place the pedalbox behind the front-axle. This was a safety requirement to be able to let Porsche's Group C racer compete in the American IMSA series. All in all more than 100 956/962 Porsches were built between 1982 and 1991. 100 prototypes.... A crazy amount for such an expensive racecar and probably the only time a potential Le Mans winner was produced so many times....

 

When both FIA Group C and the IMSA-GTP series ceased around 1993 the most of the 100 Porsche 956/962 all of a sudden were out of work. What should you do with all these cars? Try to get them on the streets maybe? Why not! Several companies have tried to make the 956/962s road legal. Probably the most well known are Dauer (with the help of Porsche to give the 962 a final Le Mans win in 1994), Schuppan (dreamed up by 956/962 (factory) driver Vern Schuppan) and the car here on these pages.... the Koenig-Specials C62.

 

Now don't be fooled. Allthough the Koenig C62 does look very much like a Porsche 962 it's a very heavily modified version of the actual racecar. Using an ex-racing Porsche 962 as a basis the car was completely rebodied. The design of the body was such that, allthough the rideheight was modified for street-us, the ground-effects of the original racecar were retained.

 

The engine of the Koenig C62 was the original 3.3L flat-six racing engine, though in many ways modified to make it more friendly for streetuse, wich included a new engine management system so the engine would produce more low-end torque. Saves for a lot of engine stalling at the traffic lights.

 

The interior of the Koenig C62 was a far-cry from a racing car; full leather with a Sony stereo and A/C. The interior was made by Porsche-tuner and interior specialist TechArt from Leonberg.

 

Prices? Oh, a Koenig C62 could be built for only 1.800 000 DM in 1991 money. More expensive than a Bugatti EB110 or a Jaguar XJ220, cars which were already considered too be out-of-this-worldly expensive back in the early 1990s. Probably because of the high conversion-price only three Koenig C62 were made (a black, yellow and a red one).

 

A Koenig C62 design sketch as published in various magazines in 1990.

 


 

This is a 1 to 5 scale model of the Koenig C62 as it was presented at the 1990. If one ordered a C62 you would be given a model like this in the color of the ordered car....delivery of the real thing might take a while... (6 months).

 


 

The original racecar Porsche 962 and the Koenig-Specials C62. Note all the details that are actually different from the original 962 (which in fact isn't all that original, because the blue-yellow car has been already heavily modified aerodynamically from the original factory Porsche 962 to keep up with the competition).

 

The first Koenig C62. This car has been seen in many press releases and magazines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

C62s under construction: One of the very few photos showing two Koenig C62s in one photo. The photo is shot in the Koenig-Specials workshop in Munich.

 


 

The red Koenig C62 shown at a car show in the early 1990s.

 

 Here we see the red C62 on the streets in Japan, where it still resides (2018).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Text: copyright Bram Corts 2018

 

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