Porsche had developed the 944 Turbo as a serious race car for European competition. For the SCCA Showroom Stock Series, the company was only mildly constrained by the rules. It brought whatever it needed to the track, whether it was in production, about to be produced, or experimental.
SCCA bent over backward trying to help Porsche get into the winner’s circle. Even though we would complain about the concessions made for Porsche, it was the right thing to do for the racing series. For SCCA and the spectators, having Corvette and Porsche each winning half the time would have been just right. SCCA also had received assurances that the Nissan 300 ZX turbo would return, and that Mazda was also considering entering the series.
Given the concessions that SCCA had made for Porsche, and that the 944 Turbos were as fast or slightly faster than the Corvettes on a straightaway, Corvette felt it had the right to petition SCCA for more freedom in engine preparation. With the improvements that were agreed to, the Corvettes would run at 350-375 hp, which was still down in power from where we expected the turbocharged Porsches to be