For the 1976 Trans Am series, the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) split the championship into two categories. The new categories were named I and II, category II being for the more advanced and powerful cars such as the FIA sanctioned Group 4 and 5 cars, including the Porsche 934 and 935s. In response to this new development, Southern Californian Porsche dealer Vasek Polak entered two Porsche 934s into the new category II, with drivers George Follmer and Hurley Haywood as his primary drivers.
The new Porsche 934 proved to be the class of the field in 1976 and despite stiff competition from his team-mate Haywood, and other 934s such as the one driven by Al Holbert, Follmer won the final race of the 1976 series (after leading the race from flag to flag) and was crowned 1976 Trans-Am champion.
The new 934 was so called as it was based on the new for 1975 Porsche 911 Turbo (known in Porsche terms as the 930) and was intended for group 4 racing, hence 934. The more radically altered 935 was also based on the 930, but was for group 5 racing. All 934s had a 3 litre flat six engine behind the rear axle line, with a large single turbocharger, and produced around 480bhp in racing trim. To comply with group 4 rules, 400 934s had to be built to homologate them for racing in the category. Unusually for a racing car, they retained the door trim of the road going Porsche 930 complete with electric windows, as group 4 rules had a relatively high minimum weight requirement, so there was no advantage in taking out the door trims and electric window mechanisms as doing so would have resulted in having to add weight elsewhere.
This model of Follmers 1976 championship winning 934 is made by Exoto. Exoto have a reputation of making some of the best 1:18th models on the market, but at a price (which always seems to be increasing!). Their Porsche 934 range first appeared in 2001 and this car was one of the first releases (there have been several since). Even though it is now in 2006 a 5 year old mold, the Exoto 934s remain great high quality models. The overall quality of the paintwork and bodywork on this model is extremely good and one of the most interesting features are the removable wheels (that are held on by a single centre nut as on the real thing).
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