This, ladies and gentlemen, is the only Porsche 911 based car to have ever won the infamous Le Mans 24hrs. It is a 1979 Porsche 935 K3 Coupe, and the king of the “whale tail” era of classic Porsche racing cars. Because of its significant achievement, many people consider this specific 935 K3 to be the most significant 911-based car of all time.

We caught this legendary Porsche 935 K3 Coupe at the 2013 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. The car was, of course, totally swamped during the show, but we, being the clever and relentless folks that we are, waited by the exit after the show had ended to get fantastic, unobstructed shots of most of the cars in the show. I am extremely happy with how this set of photos of this 935 K3 Coupe turned out, and what’s more, we got to snack on lots of leftover gourmet food while we shot our photos. We literally had our cake, ate it too, and got to be up close and personal with some of the most epic automobiles of all time. A great day this was, to be sure.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Porsche 935, in a nutshell it is the most extreme form of racing Porsche 911 that has ever been. At a time when the standard 911 had less than 200hp, the 935 summoned a twin turbocharged stampede of 700 vicious mares. All that extra bodywork you see is there to keep this thing on the ground at a time when aerodynamics was really still a lot of somewhat crude trial and error, especially with the speeds these cars could reach.

In addition to winning the Le Mans 24hrs in 1979, this 935 K3 also won major races at the Nürburgring and Watkins Glen, and saw podium finishes at both Sebring and Brands Hatch. It is an extremely well decorated racing champion, and many would deem it “priceless” because of that.

However, a few days ago, the owner of this car, Bruce Meyer, had the scare of a lifetime when DEA agents came and seized his priceless piece of racing history while he was at a track day at Laguna Seca. Supposedly it was in connection with an ongoing investigation into the previous owner’s affairs, however, much to Mr Meyer’s delight, and certainly at his expense, he was informed that the DEA seizure was an elaborate prank, and the car was brought back to him 15 minutes later. What a rough 15 minutes, though, eh?

It was a serious thrill to see this car at Pebble Beach. Many cars are called priceless for whatever reason, but this Porsche 935 K3 Coupe has as much merit as any other car out there to earn that distinction. It is a marvel of automotive history and engineering, and I’m really glad the whole recent DEA seizure thing was, in fact, a joke because we’ve seen how such cars can be treated while impounded.

Enjoy the photos of this epic Porsche!

-Photos by Nick Walker