Ex-F1 Driver's Porsche 930 TAG Turbo by Lasante Revealed

Last week at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed, former F1 driver Stefan Johansson not only had his hand painted but also his ex-F1 racing engine modified Porsche 911 was unveiled.

Codenamed "SJ87," the car is the eighth of 11 Porsche 930 TAG turbos by Lanzante, a British motorsports and engineering company that also builds public road versions of circuit cars like the McLaren P1 GTR. 2018. The TAG Turbo presented combines the Porsche 930 bodyshell with an actual Formula 1 engine, specifically the 1.5-liter V6 TAG Turbo unit developed by Porsche and used by McLaren in the 1980s.

Johansson was one of the McLaren drivers at the time, and the SJ87 was powered by the engine that powered his MP4/3 F1 car in the 1987 Austrian GP. The Swedish driver had a collision with a deer in practice that totaled his primary car and lost a wheel during a pit stop in the race, finishing seventh. However, the engine was the ultimate in terms of development: after running a TAG turbo engine since 1984, McLaren switched to a Honda engine for the 1988 season.

The engine had plenty of power. The turbo V-6 engine was estimated at around 750 hp in race trim, but was detuned to a more manageable 503 hp for the 930 road car, and was mated to a 6-speed manual transmission from a 993 911 to transfer power to the rear wheels. Lanzante estimates the vehicle's weight, not including driver and fuel, at 2,248 pounds.

The SJ87 is not the only Porsche 911 with a TAG turbo engine, but it is unique thanks to the livery designed and painted by Johansson, now an artist. The streaks of color on the white body include the green of the driver's helmet design and childhood nickname "Little Leaf," the blue and yellow of the Swedish flag, and the red and white Marlboro colors of Johansson's McLaren MP4/3 racing car.

The finished car was displayed at Goodwood along with a public road version of Lanzante's Pagani Zonda Revolucion and the company's McLaren F1 GTR.