In-Car 956 VHS - Description
If you've ever wondered what it's like to lap Kyalami or Brands Hatch in a race winning sports car, now's your chance to find out! We've put an in-car camera in a works Rothmans Porsche 956 with Derek Bell, giving you a terrific driver's-eye-view as he takes you round seven of the world's greatest racing circuits at up to 220 mph! The car is a 650 bhp world championship wining racing sports car and the driver's eye-view is riveting - how does the fifth fastest ever lap of the marvellous 'old' Nurburgring circuit sound? Or an average of over 120 mph round the spectacular Spa Francorchamps circuit? In-Car 956 - an exhilarating experience!
Here’s what EVO Magazine had to say about this video:
"After the Freezeframe article on ‘Faszination on the Nurburgring’ (Evo 21), a few of you wrote to recommend In-Car 956. Whoever you are, thank you; we’re indebted.
At the risk of being accused of teaching my grandmother to suck eggs (which, by the way, is a great Xmas party game after she’s had one too many Baileys), a 956 is a 1980s Porsche Sports GT racer that also happens to be one of the most successful of all time. I knew that, and I also knew that Derek Bell was a bit handy in one, but I didn’t know that he’d collaborated in this video. I also didn’t appreciate how awesome the 650bhp 956 is, nor how incredible a 6mins 41secs lap of the old Nurburgring is. In fact, right up until I slid the video into the machine I’d always thought GT racing was a bit... well... steady, a formula where ex-F1 drivers and others past their prime go to have their fun.
This is a period video shot in ‘83 or ‘84, using bulky, heavy cameras, but the footage is superb. Seven tracks are featured in all. The action starts at Brands Hatch, with the sound of the 956’s lusty twin-turbo, flat-six growling under power and chuffing on the overrun, and a view of Bell fiddling at the wheel. Then it snaps to the through-screen view and - oh-my-Gawd! - Dingle Dell is rushing towards us at stupefying speed. Bell peels into the pits seconds later (full Brands laps come later) and the action moves to Silverstone.
Now, there’s better to come but watch it as a warm up to see how Bell and his fellow Rothman Porsche works drivers hustled these humungously fast and potent ground-effects machines. Almost immediately you’re chasing Jackie Ickx through the Woodcote chicane and it looks like he’s having the most almighty accident. He’s not - this is how 956s were driven on a qualifying lap. My respect for Bell and his ilk is growing by the second.
Next up is the Nordschleif, the old ‘Ring. If you’ve been around it, this will look like crazily speeded-up footage. At some tracks Bell talks as he drives (commentary is notably and understandably sparse at Kyalami) but for the ‘Ring he recorded a voice-over. Gems include 'the vibrations and bumps on the circuit are absolutely astounding - you can hardly hold the car at all...' as he heads through the Kesselchen section at 170mph-plus in top. It just happens to be the fifth fastest lap of the ‘Ring - ever - and with a camera on board too remember.
However for me the laps of Le Mans are just devastating. Here you are with Bell slicing onto the Mulsanne straight and quickly working up through the gears before settling to maximum revs in top (during the 24 Hours of ‘83 the 956s were timed at 246mph). Scenery blurs by and the straight goes on... and on... Blimey. And on... and on... Will it never end? And on... and on...
And on.
Here’s the famous kink. Bell’s right foot remains planted, the engine does not waver. Then the straight goes on and on a bit more. I can't imagine what it‘s like in the darkness of early morning, perhaps with a wet track and the wiper going, closing on much slower cars whose drivers are busy with their own race. Bell (now an MBE) won Le Mans five times. He is a God. You need this video."
