Porsche 962 Nose Is Our Unusual Bring a Trailer Pick of the Day

Not everyone can afford a historic Porsche 962 racing car, and even if you could, what would you do with it? Vintage racing is nostalgic fantasy only for those with the deepest of pockets. Those of us with Löwenbräu-liveried dreams on Budweiser budgets aren’t likely to be raising any paddles at a Monterey Car Week auction. But for a fraction of the cost you can afford a part of the thrill, and for a good cause, too. Up for auction at Bring a Trailer—which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos—is the nose section of a Porsche 962C that, it’s all but certain, campaigned at the 12 Hours of Sebring in its day.

The section has been carefully restored, but still bears the patina and battle damage of endurance racing. With six days left in the auction, bidding sits at $6500.

That figure is peanuts compared to the $1.3 million that chassis number 962-139 just fetched at the Gooding & Company auction in Monterey this week. Even better, the seller here will be donating the entire proceeds from the sale—including BaT’s fee—to the Brock Yates Memorial Fund, a charity that benefits Alzheimer’s research and support.

Brock Yates was a giant of American automotive enthusiasm, editor at large for Car and Driver for four decades, and the founder of the original Cannonball Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash and One Lap of America. That a fragment of American endurance racing memorabilia is being sold to support the charity that bears his name seems only too fitting.

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Besides, he’d likely appreciate the story. This nose section was found by the seller while idly trawling through local Craigslist listings. At first, it was thought to be a replica, but the original markings were still visible in the faded paint. After a little sleuthing on the part of the seller, aided by some unusual brake ducting, it’s now believed the nose did once belong to the Havoline-liveried 962C that finished third at the 1989 running of the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Owned by the late Bruce Leven of Seattle and campaigned by his Bayside Disposal racing team, that car in its entirety is a typical Porsche racing icon of the era. At Sebring, it was driven by James Weaver and Dominic Dobson, and later in that ’89 season by Jochen Mass.

The seller has polished the paint and reapplied the decals as they were in 1989. Decorative Hella headlights have been added, but the rest of the nose section has been left with the original marks and chips it picked up while in competition.

It’s the perfect decoration to mount over the 1980s air-cooled 911 you’ve got in your garage—or maybe just in the office where you keep all your vintage racing books. Owning your own vintage racing 962 may not be within reach. But you can get a piece of the action. The auction ends on Friday, August 26.