- One of eleven TAG Turbo's built by Lanzante
- The first customer delivered example
- One of the most desirable engine selections of the eleven cars
- Engine from Alain Prost's 1985 Championship season
OVERVIEW
In the 1980s, Formula 1 belonged to McLaren International – a total of five drivers and four constructors championships were won by the team from Woking. In the mid-’80s, the MP4/2 and subsequent MP4/2B, MP4/2C, and finally MP4/3 were the cars to beat. A combination of John Barnard’s pioneering carbon composite chassis and the Porsche-designed and built TAG TTE P01 V6 twin-turbo engine led Alain Prost and Niki Lauda to three drivers and two constructors championships.
These times were wild – limited safety, engines were turbocharged, small capacity units producing vast amounts of horsepower. Ron Dennis, in search of a manufacturer to provide a reliable turbocharged engine, partnered with Mansour Ojjeh’s TAG and approached Porsche. Hans Mezger headed up the project and designed a relatively narrow 80 degree V6 cylinder twin-turbocharged engine capable of producing 1060hp in its most potent qualifying trim. The design and materials used employed innovative technologies that are more commonplace in contemporary Formula 1 cars, but were unusual in period: cooling channels around the valve seats housing sodium-filled valves fed from twin water pumps mounted at the end of the engine itself; KKK handed turbo-chargers; forged pistons supplied by Mahle and titanium connecting rods.
The TAG-Porsche TTE P01 V6 was an icon winning 26 Grand Prix – to celebrate how special the engine was, the team came up with the idea to install it in Porsche’s ultimate road car of the period, the 911 Turbo. The one-off Porsche 930 TAG Turbo is the original expression of “a Formula 1 engine installed in a road car”. The car has subtle aesthetic differences versus the standard 930 Turbo, specifically a deeper front splitter (unlike the air-cooled three litre flat six-cylinder engine in the standard car, the TAG-Turbo is water-cooled, necessitating the introduction of radiators in the front of the car); a larger rear wing; Ruf alloy wheels, and a turbo boost gauge that went to three bars. The car remained the singular example of a Porsche Formula 1 engine installed in a road car for many years, until one day in April 2017 we visited McLaren Technology Center, home of McLaren Racing. We enquired if we could purchase the one-off 930 TAG Turbo, which was respectfully declined, which led us to then ask about an engine for an exact copy of the one-off, which we would build at Lanzante. McLaren agreed to consider it and get back to us. Meanwhile, we considered what would be required to build the second car to the correct standard – we realized that in order to produce a car of the highest quality, we would need to produce a small volume run of 930 TAG Turbos. Some time was spent on the details of the build, and we eventually arrived at a production number of 11 cars, one car for each driver in each year the Porsche TAG Turbo engine contested Grand Prix in a McLaren chassis. McLaren Racing agreed to sell us sufficient examples of the TAG Turbo V6, and the Porsche 930 TAG Turbo by Lanzante was born. We studied the original one-off, and developed our concept more accurately – we wanted to stay true to the original car, but contemporaneously improve on the quality, and drivability and utilize the best technology available to us.
Every engine used in a Porsche 930 TAG Turbo by Lanzante is an original, designed and built by Porsche in period, TTE P01 twin turbo V6, and used in a Formula 1 car in the period. We have partnered with Cosworth, a world-class automotive engineering company, to re-engineer and re-built the race engines to the most optimal form for use in a Porsche 911 road car.
The development journey has resulted in a package that delivers:
- 503 bhp at 8,500rpm and 420Nm in maximum torque
- Maximum engine speed of 9,000 rpm
- Maximum boost pressure of 3 bar
- Total weight of an engine – 130kg (which is 130kg less than the standard engine in a 930 Turbo road car).
HISTORY
AP85 started as a lovely 1987 930 Turbo that was in great driving condition. Once sourced, the car was transported to Lanzante LTD in November of '20 to start its transition into one of the lucky eleven TAG Turbo's.
When working through the initial vehicle specification, it was determined that the car would be finished in Porsche Slate Grey over a "Manor Red Leather/Houndstooth" interior. Completing its build in February of '22, the car was then flown over to the United States to join a collection of some historic McLaren Grand Prix cars.
AP85's engine was most notably used in the 1985 Holland Grand Prix and 1986 French Grand Prix, propelling Prost to a 2nd place finish in each. Stefan Johansson would then have this engine strapped behind him in the 1987 Monaco Grand Prix where he suffered a DNF and in France where the engine would take him to an 8th place finish.
TECHNICAL/CONDITION STATUS
Benefits from an annual service with Lanzante LTD in October of '24
Includes a second set of comfort seats
SUMMARY
Beautifully presented in a period-correct spec, this is an extremely rare opportunity to acquire a remarkable TAG Turbo built by Lanzante.
***Formula 1 car not included***