They say that Steve Jobs was more of a Mercedes. That he was crazy about German engines. Although her first love was a red Fiat 850, she bragged about that BMW motorcycle for years and it was the same later when she began to flirt with luxury cars. Not surprisingly, she had to hide that Porsche if she wanted to create the right impression.
Such was his fixation that his automobile obsession became a status symbol within the company: in 1984 he decided to give one to the best Macintosh salesman in his entire fleet. But the one we bring today was not given away. Instead, it was sold for $4,840,000. And that ended up destroyed.
Apple “competed” in Le Mans, the world’s most popular endurance race, with an iPorsche that made history
As the official LeMans website itself indicates, on June 14, 1980, “Dick Barbour Racing’s Porsche 71 #935 took the start in the 24 hours of Le Mans with the colors of the Californian company.” In 1980, Silicon Valley was the heart of a technological heyday and in Cupertino, Jobs and Steve Wozniak were two geeky deities who boasted of making a career with their young company. So well, when they approached Porsche they didn’t have a hard time. AND Apple’s big apple crowned the two lengths of an “iPorsche”, as it was nicknamed.
In the absence of an iCar, this was the big star signed by Apple. A little gem that even became a collector’s toy, at 1/18 scale. On eBay you can still see the latest model up for auction – if you want to bid, you can still – and they rarely go below €400.
But let’s go back to that morning. Three pilots sat in the cockpit: Allan Moffat, Bobby Rahal and Bob Garretson. And a number, 12 from the grid position. The Kremer brothers of Dick Barbour Racing set this car up for another run. Under the letters of Apple Computer was hidden a 6.3-liter 2-cylinder boxer engine with 800 horsepower —750 in the race—.
A beast preceded by deserved fame: in 1979 it won without regard at the controls of the same pilots. Unfortunately, this time they did not have the same luck and the Porsche 935 K3 did not complete the epic: at 11 o’clock he had to withdraw due to a melted piston.
A second life and a millionaire auction
Nothing that would not prevent him from competing again: that same year, Garretson’s team, with Brian Redman at the wheel, took first prize at the Daytona 24h. Like another similar model, the three drivers Paul Newman -yes, the actor-, Dick Barbour and the German Rolf Stommelen won silver in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Before his odyssey at LeMans, he also participated in other races, such as Sebring, Watkins Gleen or the Road America 500, where he achieved a worthy third place. In total, this Porsche 935 competed in seven speed events.
And even here, because the Apple Computer Porsche was retired until, already in 2006, the Hawaiian Tropic team decided to restore it. And, if we follow in his footsteps, we will come across his new public appearance, ten years later, in 2016, when was auctioned in a private bid organized by Gooding & Company on Amelia Island, for nothing more and nothing less than $ 4,840,000. It is, de facto, one of the ten most expensive Porsches ever auctioned in history.
Whoever has it can boast of keeping it in their garage the only car in history that has had the rainbow apple on its bodyworkthanks to an endorsement deal that best exemplified Jobs’ love of speed.
Images | DigitalDTour
In Applesphere | He inherits his grandfather’s car and decides to salvage it from the scrapyard: it turns out to be this almost unknown model and the first real “Apple” branded car from 1996