Racy but road-legal Porsche 963 teased

Porsche has released a teaser of what’s tipped to be a road-going version of its 2025 Porsche 963 LMDh prototype racer, which is expected to be revealed this June at the Le Mans 24 race.

Releasing a shadowy teaser of what looks like a modified version of the 963 hypercar that currently competes in the World Endurance Championship (WEC), the motivation to create a racer for road-going use is thought to commemorate the 50th anniversary since the first 917 race car was produced for road use.

In 1975, Porsche produced the first 917 road car for a private owner who wanted to use it on road. Underlining his intent, he drove the fearsome race car from the German car-maker’s Weissach R&D centre to his home in Paris.

Captioning the video “What if?”, before showing the darkened side profile of the 963 and a date of June 2025, the current Porsche comes with a petrol-electric hybrid that combines an electric motor with a twin-turbocharged 4.6-litre V8.

In race trim the 963 weighs in at just 1030kg, with the powertrain capped to anywhere between 500-520kW, although without the restrictors it’s thought that the Porsche might produce an output north of 700kW.

Challenges include taming the race-spec seven-speed sequential transmission for road use as well as modifying the brakes to work at the lower temperatures needed for road use.

Finally, the extra safety kit needed for road use will no doubt bring a big weight penalty.

With no official confirmation that a road-ready Porsche 963 is on the way, it’s unknown how many examples the German brand plans to make, but it’s thought the car that will be revealed in Le Mans will either be a one-off or be one of an extremely limited production run.

Back in 1975, to comply with road regulations, engineers added a set of exhaust silencers, extra mirrors, indicators, a horn and spare wheel and renamed the racer the 917K (the ‘k’ for ‘kurzheck’, or short tail).

Other changes included adding tan leather seats made by Hermes.

Powered by a 4.5-litre flat-12 engine, Porsche’s racer-for-the-road produced between 427kW and 463kW, depending on tune.

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