Ever wondered what a modern, 2025 Le Mans prototype racecar would be like as a daily driver? Fancied popping to the shops in a 963 LMDh? It seems you’re not alone. It seems Porsche itself just might be working on an actual road-legal Le Mans hypercar. Woah.
There’s no official confirmation from Porsche, just a shadowy teaser at the end of a video commemorating 50 years since Porsche 917 chassis no.30 was converted for road use by the factory itself, at the behest of Italian business and heir to the Martini empire, ‘Count’ Gregorio Rossi de Montelera.
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To us, that car in the murky gloom looks awfully like a 963’s side profile. And Porsche tees it up with the question ‘what if?’, just as Count Rossi wondered ‘what if’ a 917 had leather seats, a suede-trimmed dashboard, treaded tires and an Alabama license plate. Holy heck. Surely not?
Le Mans racers have often blurred the lines between road car and track car. In the race’s early days the cars were essentially tuned-up showroom models. Many of the classic Jaguars, Porsches and Ferraris from the 1960s have seen a public highway since. So have the likes of the McLaren F1 GTR from the 1990s.
But a modern 963 LMh? That’s a very sophisticated bit of kit, powered by a 4.6-liter bi-turbo V8 and boosted by a 67hp hybrid motor. It won the 2024 World Endurance Championship. Turning it into a turn-key road car will be, um, challenging.
But with the Porsche hypercar scene very quiet after the lukewarm reaction to an all-electric future with the Mission X concept, could we be about to meet the most extreme Porsche road car of all time? We’ll find out in June…
NOTE: This story first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
