Video: The Porsche 944 GTR is a 600PS beast

08th February 2024

Simon Ostler

It’s difficult to deny the popularity of a road car is massively inflated when it’s turned into a racing car. That’s certainly true of the Porsche 944, which while popular during its nine-year production run, is far less fondly remembered than the great 911s of the era. Transformed into the 944 GTR, we see it here in the striking red and yellow Electrodyne livery that raced in the IMSA series in the late 1980s.

Although not quite on the legendary footing of Le Mans heroes like the 956, 962 or the numerous RSRs that have cemented their place in the annals of motorsport history, the 944 GTR nonetheless is worthy of recognition for its brazen engineering.

Seven were built by Fabcar Engineering, who developed a bespoke tube chassis that formed the basis for a hugely impressive feat of engineering, pushing the boundaries of what was both possible and allowed within the rules of the IMSA GT Championship.

Powered by a turbocharged 2.5-litre inline-four-cylinder engine, broadly modified from you’d find in the standard road-going 944 and incorporating a motronic ECU taken from a 962, this particular 944 GTR was built to go toe to toe with the Corvettes and the Camaros of the GTO class. It competed at the likes of Daytona in 1987, albeit with limited success.

Regardless of its results, this is the kind of car we love to see unleashed at events like Rennsport, where we caught up with current owner Colin Dougherty to learn all about this absolute beast.