Get A Glimpse At The Porsche 963 RSP, The Company’s Roadgoing Le Mans Racer

It was late last month that we got an inkling that a road-going version of the Porsche 963, Stuttgart’s latest top-flight endurance racer, was in the works. Inspired by an example of the famous 917K from the ’70s that was road-legalised at the behest of Italian playboy racer Count Rossi, the last we heard of it, we were treated to a single silhouetted teaser and a June unveil date.

Well, it’s almost June, and evidently, Porsche’s getting ready to show the car off. The latest teaser comes in one of the stranger forms we’ve seen – a short video chock-full of ASMR-style sound effects of various parts of the car being prepped.

As you enjoy the video – or, if you’re like me and ASMR stuff makes your skin crawl, suffer through it – you’ll be treated to more hints that we are indeed looking at a road-ready 963. As well as getting glimpses of the odd bit of bodywork, including what’s clearly the wheel arch of a 963 in the spray booth, we also see Porsche’s team working with various materials you certainly wouldn’t expect to find in a full-on racing car.

Then, the big reveal comes towards the end of the video – a close-up of a badge that reads ‘963 RSP’. You can make your own mind up on what this might stand for – we’re thinking ‘Rennsport Prototype’, or possibly ‘Rather Silly Porsche’.

That last shot is accompanied by what sounds like an electric motor whirring into life, suggesting that this car will share a version of the hybrid powertrain in the 963 racer. Will it get the same 4.6-litre twin-turbo V8, too? It’s derived from the one found in the 918 Spyder, so it’s not out of the question that it could be re-adapted for road use.

Interestingly, the video’s description calls the 963 RSP ‘a one-of-one vehicle’, suggesting that it could be a mere one-off rather than a limited run thing. All will be revealed at some point next month – quite possibly around the weekend of the 14th and 15th, when the competition version of the 963 is taking part in some sort of large race in northern France.