The Porsche 962 (also known as the 962C in its Group C form) is a sports-prototype racing car built by Porsche as a replacement for the 956 and designed mainly to comply with IMSA's GTP regulations, although it would later compete in the European Group C formula as the 956 had. The 962 was introduced at the end of 1984, from which it quickly became successful through private owners while having a remarkably long-lived career, with some examples still proving competitive into the mid-1990s. The vehicle was later replaced by the Porsche WSC-95. A sister car for 962/200 and also with a Nigel Stroud tub, it’s debut race was at Le Mans, in black Raika colours in 1989 with David Hobbs, Steven Andskar and future F1 world champion Damon Hill in his one and only outing at La Sarthe. It retired from 9th position in the 14th hour and also ran as a second team entry at Brands Hatch and the Nurburgring that season. It gained its pink body courtesy of sponsor Italya Sports for 1990 and was the sole team entry, and was raced for the full world championship season, mainly by James Weaver and Manuel Reuter, who were joined by Steven Andskar for it’s return to Le Mans, which sadly again ended in retirement. More recently, it has been used in historic Group C, with Win Percy’s 962 debut putting the car on the front row at Silverstone in 2003, and it did a full historic season with Henry Pearman in 2005 and went on in 2008 to win the historic Group C championship with Henry Pearman and Mike Wilds driving and is still wearing it’s original 1990 livery and paint.
