Porsche’s first customer prototype in more than a decade came with a $2.9 million price tag, making the 963 the most expensive model offered by the German automaker.
The LMP2-derived 963 chassis, built by Canadian race car manufacturer Multimatic, could become one of Porsche’s lower volume offerings. With the exception of two factory Porsche Penske Motorsport entries in the GTP class of the IMSA’s WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, and two additional PPM entries in the FIA World Endurance Championship Supercar category, as well as any spare cars they maintain when the program launches in 2023, a limited number are expected to be sold to independent teams. Sales will be made to independent teams.
JDC-Miller Motorsports of Minnesota is confirmed as the first customer team to purchase the 963, with more private teams from IMSA and the WEC to join them, but only a few have demonstrated quality and competitiveness in both series.
Despite the high price compared to the brand’s most expensive road cars, the turnkey twin-turbo V8-powered hybrid Porsche is priced very low Sebring hours for a thoroughbred machine designed to fight for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and 12 Hours of Endurance overall.
The new 963 surpasses the 2007-2008 Porsche RS Spyder LMP2 chassis, which sold for $1.5 million at the time. At 2022 prices, the all-powerful RS Spyder (also in limited numbers) will cost $2.1 million. Like the 963, Porsche’s last customer prototype was carried out by the factory in partnership with Roger Penske, and the RS Spyders were deployed by six private teams over their domestic and international lifecycle.
The purchase of the 963’s direct ancestor, the 962 IMSA GTP model that debuted in 1984, carried a price tag of $250,000. Adjusted for inflation, the 962 would sell for more than $700,000 today, and in better examples, the vintage 962 could fetch more than $2 million at auction. It also exceeds the asking price of Porsche’s latest road-going supercar: even with some very expensive options, the 918 Spyder still sells for around $1 million.
Priced at $2.9 million, the 680-horsepower 963 is not an all-inclusive sum. The spare engine, transmission, extra bodywork and all the consumables needed to run and maintain the car during the endurance racing season all cost extra, but the purchase does come with the firm technical support of Porsche Motorsport.
“We’re selling it for $2.9 million, but that’s the total amount,” Volker Holzmeyer, president and CEO of Porsche Motorsport North America, told Road & Track. “Our service will always be available as long as the customer is running, and we will have on On site with spare parts, on site with an engineering truck, five, six, seven engineers, we will now work with the team to figure out what they think it is necessary. But the service is always there. And it’s always free.
“That’s the way Porsche handles it because that’s the way we can guarantee the highest level of quality. If we offer something and someone has to pay for it, you can always say no, [so this way] we can make sure we always offer the highest quality and make sure it’s the best possible result achievable.”
In addition to the price of buying a Porsche 963, teams like JDC-Miller Motorsports need to fund the entire season, which begins with the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January and spans 10 weekends until the championship finale at Road Atlanta in late September or the 10 Hours of Petit Le Mans in October early in the year.
Since the IMSA is using the current DPi formula, it is known that independent teams spend between $35 and $4.5 million on Cadillac DPi-V.R.
Given the first use of mandatory energy recovery in IMSA and the 963 and all the other new models from Acura, BMW and Cadillac, the lease price for ERS units and technical support is somewhat high, and with the potential to hire and pay additional support engineers to maintain and tune the high-tech hybrid prototype based on estimates provided in the paddock, the annual budget could increase by more than $1 million .
One of the biggest benefits of purchasing the 963 is the direct link to the Porsche factory and the coveted engineering information that will be available at every race. With clear direction on the best chassis setup options for customer use, a team like JDC-Miller is never too far from a PPM factory entry on the schedule. Whether the PPM team chooses to share what it learns with Porsche’s customers once the race weekend begins is another matter.
“From Porsche’s perspective, we will provide Penske with the same data as JDC-Miller; Porsche will provide information to everyone equally,” Holzmeyer added. “Then there will be a limited, for example, performance-related, ‘how to operate the car or set it up’ [information exchange].
“Now, that makes the difference. And then depending on Penske, what they share and what they don’t share. Because ultimately, everyone is competing with each other. But, as a manufacturer, we want to make sure we’re on top. And then, if we’re in a 1-2-3 position, the team can compete with that.”
In a nutshell, “Speed costs; how fast do you want to go?’ Live and let live. But given the perpetually booming market for exclusive Porsches, today’s $2.9 million investment should pay off in the future when the first 963s hit the market.
