Norbert Singer on the 935/78 Moby Dick                            Page 3

[This is the original unedited interview and is being run here exclusively for the Fans of Norbert Singer. "ec" refers to European Car magazine]

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Singer: Actually, no. The problem was, the bigger engine had a fuel consumption problem and we were refueling, I think, every 35 minutes. I think we had, I don't know how many, 39 or 38 pit stops. Far too many. Also the Group 6 prototypes were carrying more fuel.

ec: Aerodynamically, how did Moby Dick compare with the 936 in '78 at Le Mans, in terms of the usual CD figures?

Singer: It's hard to compare. For it was a little higher in drag because the car was bigger, but it was maybe similar in downforce, maybe just a little less. And it was just the power and the drag, I think, in these two areas. it was better than the 936 so the car was much faster on the straight than the 936.

ec: If the car had better economy or let's say had run with a 2.6 instead of the 3.2, would that made a difference ?

Singer: Maybe, there's a chance.

ec: Because it sounds like it would have gone probably as fast as the 3.2 because the car was so aerodynamic.

Singer: In qualifying, you remember, we were pretty fast. We were enjoying the qualifying. We were the fastest car, but then one of the Renaults put a good lap together Jacky Ickx did a real big effort in the 936 to get pole. Moby Dick started third on the grid. I think, one second behind the Renault but Ickx was almost three seconds faster.

Really no one else could go faster.

ec: 1978 was my first year at Le Mans and the big story was how much that Renault had at stake and had to win. But it was the reaction from the crowd, that no one was prepared at all for anything quite like Moby Dick.

Singer: I suppose but it had it's problems during the race.

ec: The few races that Moby Dick did after Le Mans, it seemed that it broke while leading.

Singer: Right, a fan belt. Nothing significant.

ec: Had you started work on 935-007 for the '79 year. What changes would there have been for the next year's Moby Dick had you been able to continue?

Singer: Well, in these days it was time to start with ground effects which was very good. I think in '78 it was Andretti with a Lotus who was champion. So the ground effects was in clear in Formula One, aerodynamics is clearly another story. But the next step was, and the wind tunnel model still exists, to start Moby Dick with ground effects.

ec: I've seen the model and the shape of it, it looks like the regular Moby Dick.

Singer: The idea was to get a big air duct which means the engine and the rear compartment of the car. To get the air actually through the rear window.

ec: How would you have ducted it?

Singer: This project was stopped quite early but we did some fundamental tests just to know how we can get the ground effects working on this type of car.

ec: For your initial testing, was it a fifth scale model? Did it work?

Singer: Yes, it was a fifth scale model. At the beginning it was quite disappointing because the rear engine stopped all the air flow until we started to try to get the air flow out of the rear window. And then it came a little bit alive and then we stopped the project but it looked somehow promising. But I never know really if we would have done it or not. Then the next thing was how to get it through the regulations, but I think there would be a way somehow.

ec: You'd find a way. You've had a long career of that. The reason the project was stopped is purely financial because Martini had decided not to race. True ?

Singer: Martini had not decided and even in '78, we didn't run the whole series. So the racing came down slowly and it was quite logical that in '79 we were not supposed to run in any race series, so we sold a lot of 935 cars and we let the customers run. Then, I think, in April 1979 the idea came up, okay, let's run Le Mans and we take the 936s out of the museum and just run Le Mans. To run Moby Dick, it was clear because of the high fuel consumption, there was no development done so it was the same as the year before. It doesn't make sense to run Moby Dick again in Le Mans.

ec: But, ironically, because of what happened with both the 936s and the way things turned out, Moby Dick very well could have won in 1979.

Singer: Yes, sure it could.

ec: Another great what if.

Singer: But you never know.

ec: Another one of the great what ifs because Moby Dick was so far ahead of the development of the rest of the privateer 935s that there was still some work to catch up. Who gave the decision for the okay for Joest and Kremer to have build their own Moby Dick replicas?

Singer: That was not a big decision, they just copied Moby Dick.

ec: Was there limited factory help? I mean, obviously, you had to have kind of an okay to do this.

Singer: Not really. They didn't really ask. They didn't have the four valve engine so they put the normal air cooled engine in and they tried to get the best part out of what they could see they had not to ask for that. Joest and Kremer had asked about buying a car and we said no.

ec: But was there a decision made such as, no, we're not going to sell 935 Moby Dick replicas to customers ?

Singer: No, because of the engine.

ec: So it was purely based on just the motor?

Singer: Yes, at that stage we were not able to supply a lot of four valve engines and we knew that to get it in customer hands there had be done more development.

ec: When you look back it's been 20 years now since Moby Dick's victory at Silverstone, are you surprised that the car had such long staying power? It's virtually become kind of Porsche's racing cultural icon. Anybody who knows anything about racing knows that Porsche had built a car called Moby Dick.

Singer: Yes, but in those days, it was just different 935.

ec: But considering again how few races that it did, Moby Dick's influence was enormous and it has since become a legend.

Singer: Yes, this is the surprise. Actually it won only one race out of four. Not very impressive but I think it's the combination of the looks, it is really like different 935. And because of the engine, this was really a big step ahead and this makes the legend, I think.

Thanks to Kerry Morse, Sport Editor of European Car Magazine, for this article.