With a top-line international career spanning some thirteen years, including no less than seven Le Mans wins and five World Sportscar Championship titles, the Porsche 956 and its close sibling, the 962, remain arguably the greatest long-distance sports racing cars of all.

In a significant departure for Porsche, the 956 featured an aluminium monocoque chassis, rather than a tubular spaceframe of the type which had served them so well previously.

The type-935 flat six-cylinder engine of the 936 was retained, to which twin KKK turbos and an all-synchro five-speed gearbox were fitted.

Porsche exploited the area of aerodynamics to the limit of the rulebook, inboard rear suspension enabling the creation of two huge venturi channels to maximise ground effect underneath the car.

Consequently, the 956 reputedly generated over three times as much downforce at speed as the legendary 917—a car barely a decade old.

The evolutionary 962—essentially a long-wheelbase 956—had been introduced in 19...