Motorsport icon Roger Penske takes delivery of the world’s only road-legal 963, a one-of-a-kind hypercar created by Porsche’s exclusive ‘special request’ division.
Roger Penske, a titan in both business and motorsport, has added a unique prize to his collection: the only road-going version of Porsche’s 963 race car ever produced.
Dubbed the 963 RSP, The Captain’s new one-of-a-kind hypercar was crafted by Porsche’s Sonderwunsch (Special Request) division as a special tribute. Oh, and RSP stands for Roger Searle Penske, of course.
Beneath the custom bodywork, the 963 RSP shares its soul with the Le Mans competitor. (The 963 has yet to take a win in the 24Hr series, but they’ll be hoping for success at this weekend’s Le Mans.)
The RS9 features the same twin-turbocharged V8, derived from the 918 Spyder, and a Bosch hybrid unit, delivering approximately 507 kilowatts (680 horsepower).
To make it road-liveable, Porsche remapped the engine to run on pump fuel and adjusted the hybrid system’s MGU for smoother power delivery.
The car also sits on a higher ride height, and its racing-spec Multimatic DSSV dampers have been set to their softest setting. For practicality, it includes adjustable headlights and functional turn signals.
The exterior carries significant changes, of course. Instead of a typical racing livery, the car is painted in a special “Martini Silver” as a nod to the iconic road-legal 917 from 50 years ago (pictured in some of these shots).
“That was an experience that will stay with me for a lifetime,” said former racer Timo Bernhard, who was at the wheel of the 963 RSP for its first run on the road.
“Driving down a public road with a 917 beside me, it felt unreal. The car behaved perfectly – it felt a little friendlier and more forgiving than the normal 963 – and felt super special and a lot more comfortable, especially as I was not needing all my safety gear.”
Other than that, the body was modified with closed fender vents, licence plate mounts, and proper badges.
Inside, the typically bare carbon fibre cockpit is trimmed with tan leather and Alcantara.
Thoughtful additions for the road include storage for a helmet and the laptop required for start-up (yup, no modern push-start or turnkey action here), along with a removable cupholder designed for a Porsche travel mug.
While Porsche has confirmed the 963 RSP will remain a one-off and is not a homologated production model, it stands as a remarkable piece of automotive engineering for a motorsport legend.
“This really started out as a ‘what if?’ – a passion project by a small team of enthusiasts at Penske and at Porsche who together imagined a version of the 963 that really resembled as closely as possible the spirit and appearance of the Count Rossi 917,” said Porsche Cars North America President and CEO Timo Resch, who conceived of the original idea.
“The 917 from the story was every inch a race car – albeit one driven on the road – and we took the same approach with the 963 RSP. It uses beautiful materials of the best quality available, but is still every bit a race car underneath.”
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