When it first arrived at Road Atlanta in April 1980, Porsche 935 K3 chassis #000-0010 marked the beginning of a short but turbulent American career. Delivered new to Ted Field and his Interscope Racing team, it was the first of three K3s supplied for IMSA competition.
Though it often served as a backup to the team’s primary 935/80, the car did manage moments of promise. Its best finish came in 1981 at Lime Rock Park, where Field and future IndyCar star Bobby Rahal claimed second in the Coca-Cola 400. Over 17 starts, it would record two poles, three podiums, and twelve DNFs—a testament to both the pace and fragility of the Kremer-built design.
By 1982, the car’s frontline days were largely over. In 1983, Drax Racing entered the machine twice, with its most infamous outing coming at Brainerd. There, painted in red and silver, it was entrusted to rising American driver Kathy Rude. A heavy accident left Rude with serious injuries, though she ultimately survived. The car itself, however, was heavily damaged and its original bodywork was never rebuilt—remaining to this day as little more than a lump of scrap.
Rather than scrapping the project, a new chassis—carrying the same #000-0010 number—was constructed. This updated car ran in IMSA through 1984 and 1985 under Paul Goral, before finally being retired when the Porsche 935 era in the U.S. drew to a close in 1987.
Exported back to Europe soon after, the K3 was repaired and modernized with flat-bottom aero and a massive intercooler, keeping pace with the technical developments of Kremer’s later evolutions. Though its American record was mixed, the car represents an important thread in the wider story of the Porsche 935—one marked by success, survival, and reinvention.
