Bisimoto Updates the Porsche 935 with Electric Power
Bisimoto used a Porsche 935 race car known as ‘Moby Dick’ as inspiration in this stunning rendering of a tribute.
The folks at Bisimoto Engineering have done it again. They have produced some massively powerful 911 turbo cars in the past. Then, they stepped up into the world of racing with a 935 using electric power. Now they are turning to the Porsche 935 again. Using the famous Porsche 935/78 race car known as “Moby Dick” as inspiration they developed “Moby X.” And while the overall design certainly is an homage to the original, the powerplant is completely new.
In 1978 the Porsche 935/78 was powered by a 3.2L flat-six augmented by two turbochargers. It produced about 845 horsepower on full boost. As fast as the car was, it had an enormous thirst for fuel. Moby X will not have a fuel consumption issue. At least not in the typical sense.
Bisimoto is going to build the car with fully electric power. Their previous 935 project was the 935 K3V. That car successfully used electric power and generated 637 horsepower. More and more tuners seem to be eschewing the old school route of adding big power. It used to be standard to go with displacement increases, forced induction and tunes. Nowadays swapping in a fully electric powertrain is becoming commonplace. In this case we are expecting Bisimoto to use a three-phase electric motor and front and rear battery packs with a combined capacity of 32 kWh.
The car renderings show a beautiful modern take on the 935/78 car. Digital artist, Khyzyl Saleem is the one who created the look. It features a long and low front end with a flowing roofline that leads to that extended tail. However, there is one thing that is conspicuously absent in the rendering. There is no rear wing at all, just a tiny, raised lip spoiler. The original Porsche 935/78 prototype had a wide and short rear wing. In actual race trim the wing was shorter but much higher. The fact that this new rendering has no wing at all is interesting, although the car is still in development. That aside, the car looks fantastic. The headlights incorporated into the bodywork is a beautiful touch.
No word on when this car will be ready for the streets. Another question is the price. A car like this is not going to be cheap. However, consider this: Recently Porsche released a limited run of 77 modern day 935 cars for sale. These track-only cars were quickly snapped up and if you can find one on the market today it will cost you well over $1 million. The Bisimoto car may be a comparative bargain. At the very least it will certainly get better gas mileage.
An all-electric 935 is certainly intriguing, and Moby X looks like Bisimoto really captured the racing spirit of the iconic white whale.
Images: Bisimoto; Porsche
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