Barilla Pasta Heir Cooks Up a Delicious Le Mans-Tribute Porsche 911Barilla Pasta Heir Cooks Up a Delicious Le Mans-Tribute Porsche 911

His 1985 Le Mans-winning Porsche 956 served as the inspiration for this custom creation by Porsche Exclusive Manufactur.

Dan Carney, Senior Editor

November 9, 2021

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The 2021 Porsche 911 GT3 (992-generation, left) sits with its inspiration, the Porsche 956 sports racing car.Porsche

A highlight of Barilla pasta heir and deputy chairman Paolo Barilla's life was his winning drive in the 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans, and to mark his 60th birthday, the pasta executive commissioned Porsche Exclusive Manufactur to recreate his victorious Porsche 956 race car using a new 911 GT3 sports car.

Barilla's new car is painted in the same Summer Yellow, white, and black color scheme as his old race car, and it wears the same black number 7 on the doors and hood. Detail parts of the car such as the shifter and the rear wing were customized to more closely reflect those on the 956 racer.

"In the '80s, I had the chance to drive the wonderful Porsche 956, an iconic car in terms of performance and beauty," says Paolo Barilla, ex-racing driver and Deputy Chairman of the Italian food company. "The interpretation of some elements in a modern GT3 makes that memory exciting and vital – for me and for people who are close to me.”

As Alexander Fabig, Vice President Individualisation and Classic at Porsche AG explains, "the cooperation with Paolo Barilla was a very special project for Porsche too. Because not only is the handcrafted 911 GT3 itself highly individual, but its design process is also unique."

The car's gestation stretched over three years, so development actually began with the previous generation 911. "Many times in this project we would have had good reason to say 'It's not going to work' or 'It's too complicated,'" said Philipp Setter, Head of Sonderwunsch Customer Consultation.

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Fortunately, they saw the project through to completion. Click through the slide show to learn the details.

About the Author

Dan Carney

Senior Editor, Design News

Dan’s coverage of the auto industry over three decades has taken him to the racetracks, automotive engineering centers, vehicle simulators, wind tunnels, and crash-test labs of the world.

A member of the North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year jury, Dan also contributes car reviews to Popular Science magazine, serves on the International Engine of the Year jury, and has judged the collegiate Formula SAE competition.

Dan is a winner of the International Motor Press Association's Ken Purdy Award for automotive writing, as well as the National Motorsports Press Association's award for magazine writing and the Washington Automotive Press Association's Golden Quill award.

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He has held a Sports Car Club of America racing license since 1991, is an SCCA National race winner, two-time SCCA Runoffs competitor in Formula F, and an Old Dominion Region Driver of the Year award winner. Co-drove a Ford Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost to 16 Federation Internationale de l’Automobile-accredited world speed records over distances from just under 1km to over 4,104km at the CERAM test circuit in Mortefontaine, France.

He was also a longtime contributor to the Society of Automotive Engineers' Automotive Engineering International magazine.

He specializes in analyzing technical developments, particularly in the areas of motorsports, efficiency, and safety.

He has been published in The New York Times, NBC News, Motor Trend, Popular Mechanics, The Washington Post, Hagerty, AutoTrader.com, Maxim, RaceCar Engineering, AutoWeek, Virginia Living, and others.

Dan has authored books on the Honda S2000 and Dodge Viper sports cars and contributed automotive content to the consumer finance book, Fight For Your Money.

He is a member and past president of the Washington Automotive Press Association and is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers

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