The Porsche 956 was a sports-protoype racing car built by Porsche which designed it in 1982 for the FIA World Sportscar Championship.

Built to comply with the championship's new Group C regulations, which was introduced in 1982, the car was a replacement for Porsche's successful 936 model which competed in the previous Group 6 category of the world championship. The 956 later evolved into the 962C, while the design was remarkably long-lived, with some examples still proving competitive right up to the turn of the millennium.

The 956 made its debut at the Silverstone 6 Hour race, the second round of the World Championship for Makes with Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell driving for the factory. After missing the following round at the Nürburgring 1000km for developmental reasons, the Ickx/Bell unit reappeared at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. They led the race for the entire 24 hours, eventually taking the overall win - their third win together. As they had already won in 1981 with a Porsche 936 that had used an early version of the 956 engine, their car had start number 1. The two other factory 956 followed them, so the three factory Porsches finished 1-2-3 in the order of their starting numbers.

Boosted by this success, Porsche sold customer versions of the 956 to privateer teams such as Joest Racing, Obermaier Racing, John Fitzpatrick Racing, Richard Lloyd Racing, Kremer Racing and Brun Motorsport who raced them independently of the factory.

After considerable success with the 956, Porsche decided they wanted to use the platform for an IMSA GTP class car, but IMSA regulations changed in 1984, now dictating that every vehicle entered into the series had to have its pedal box mounted behind the front axle line, which the 956 did not.

To make it eligible under the new rules, and following crash tests on 956 chassis #004 (the third-placed 1982 Le Mans finisher), the 956's wheelbase was increased to make room for the pedal box. A steel roll cage was also integrated into the new car. Work was underway on a larger engine, but in the meantime a modified version of the 934-derived 2.8 L engine was used, featuring a single Kühnle, Kopp und Kausch AG K36 turbocharger instead of the twin K27 turbochargers of the 956, as twin-turbo systems were not allowed in GTP class racing at the time.

Porsche dubbed the revised vehicle the 962 and debuted a total of five units at the 24 Hours of Daytona with Mario and Michael Andretti driving the factory car and the other four being driven by members of the privateer teams which had purchased them. The factory car led the race until it retired during lap 127 with engine and gearbox problems.

Löwenbräu 962C

Porsche went back to a twin-turbocharged 3.2 L engine for 1985, re-naming the car 962C and entering it in the World Endurance Championship, but ironically the car lost to an older 956, which had already taken WEC top-honors four times.

Under pressure from fast new cars from Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz, in 1987 Porsche again brought in a new engine, a more durable and powerful 3.0 L unit which powered the car to an overall win at the 1987 24 Hours of Le Mans, Porsche's record seventh consecutive victory at the race.