Porsche 993 3.8 Cup

Marketing a new product can sometimes be difficult with focus group planning, the search for the right turn of phrase, and boardroom meetings for final approval. Alternatively, it can be as simple as purchasing a great looking race car and slapping a logo on it! To promote their new S-02 high performance tire and the fitment of it on the 1996 911 Turbo, Mike Van Sicklen, Bridgestone’s Consumer Marketing Specialist, did just that, launching an all-out media assault and this Bridgestone branded Porsche 911 Cup 3.8 shod with S-02s as their centerpiece. After an initial multi-day press event held at Road Atlanta in late March, Bridgestone and this Cup 3.8 followed the IndyCar circus across the United States demonstrating the impressive performance of their new street tire. It didn’t hurt that, through their connections, they hired David Murry and Hurley Haywood to impress both the lucky passengers and those in attendance. The drumbeat of impressive names didn’t stop with the driver pairing, as Rohr Racing of West Chester, Ohio were employed to set up and maintain the Cup 3.8 throughout 1995. The mid-1990s were a high point at Rohr with championships in SCCA World Challenge, IMSA, and class victories at the 24 Hours of Daytona – all with Porsche race cars. By all accounts this marketing project was an unqualified success for Bridgestone and Porsche.

After its marketing days were through it was sold to Bridgestone’s Marketing Director, Mike Van Sicklen, who entered it in the 1995 PCA Porsche Parade (Portland) concours where it remarkably garnered a class victory! In conversations with Van Sicklen, an avid club racer, he enlisted ANDIAL (now Porsche Motorsport North America) to rebuild the original 3.8 Cup engine to a higher level specification with 993 RSR parts. With Van Sicklen rightly concerned about damaging his historically important Cup 3.8 it then passed through the hands of Porsche collector Jeff Smith. It then continued to spend time in the Portland, Oregon area before entering the noted Porsche collection of Don Ahern. While with Ahern 8086 received a cosmetic restoration, including the reapplication of its Bridgestone S-02 livery, to return this Cup 3.8 to very much the same condition as its 1995 debut at Road Atlanta 29 years ago.

Most impressively, it retains both its factory matching numbers ‘M64/70’ flat-six engine and its correct type, and likely matching, ‘G50/30’ six-speed manual transmission. It goes without saying that a matching numbers racecar is a rare bird, indeed. These details, along with the high degree of originality, and likely unique three-piece, lightweight BBS center-lock wheels set this particular Cup 3.8 apart from many of the other Supercup cars produced for the 1995 race season. Finally, events that currently exist for special cars such as this have created a veritable fountain of youth for this era of Porsche factory race car. Interested parties will be keen to know that Luftgekühlt, Rennsport VII, and the multitude of high-quality events associated with Porsche’s 75th anniversary can open a world of possibilities for 2023.