John Ternus took over as chief executive of Apple on September 1, replacing Tim Cook after 15 years in the job. Ternus is a mechanical engineer who ran Apple's hardware engineering before getting the top job. On weekends, he reportedly takes a Porsche 935 to Laguna Seca. Apple services chief Eddy Cue brought it up at the Miami Grand Prix in May. "John actually drives a Porsche and does amateur racing," Cue told Reuters. Cue said Ternus would otherwise have been at the Formula 1 race but was at Laguna Seca instead.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Ternus laps the California circuit in under 1 minute 40 seconds. Cook called his successor someone with "the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honor" when Apple announced the handoff in April. Ternus joined Apple's product design team in 2001 and holds a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
What the Porsche 935 is
The car is the modern 935, which Porsche revealed in 2018 at Rennsport Reunion VI, held at Laguna Seca. Porsche built 77 of them. It uses the twin-turbo 3.8-liter flat-six from the road-legal 911 GT2 RS, rated at 700 hp and sent through a seven-speed PDK dual-clutch gearbox. It weighs 1,380 kg, about 3,042 pounds. It can't be registered for the road. Porsche built it for clubsport events and private track days, and it isn't homologated for any race series.
"Because the car isn't homologated, engineers and designers didn't have to follow the usual rules and thus had freedom in the development," said Frank-Steffen Walliser, then Porsche's vice president of motorsport and GT cars, at the launch.
The long tail pays tribute to the 935/78 that raced at Le Mans, the car fans nicknamed "Moby Dick." The details borrow from other famous Porsches. The LED taillights on the wing endplates come from the 919 Hybrid, the mirrors come from the 911 RSR, and the titanium tailpipes are modeled on the 908 from 1968.
Apple and Porsche go back to 1980
The first Porsche to carry Apple's logo was a 935 K3 entered by Dick Barbour Racing in 1980, including at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In May, Porsche Penske Motorsport ran both of its 963 prototypes at Laguna Seca's IMSA round in a tribute to that livery, marking 75 years of Porsche Motorsport and 50 years of Apple. Apple is deeper into racing than it used to be. Apple TV became the exclusive US broadcaster of Formula 1 this year, carrying all 24 rounds, and Cue has described Ternus as a big F1 fan.
An Apple car still looks unlikely. Apple shut down its car project in February 2024 without ever showing a vehicle, and Ternus led hardware engineering during much of that time. Apple's presence in cars today is CarPlay, which in its newest form takes over the instrument cluster in cars like the Aston Martin Vantage.
Sources:
Ternus becoming CEO and Cook's quote: Apple Newsroom
The 935's specs, weight, design details, and Walliser's quote: Porsche Newsroom
The 1980 Apple livery and the 2026 tribute at Laguna Seca: Porsche Newsroom
Cue's comments to Reuters, the Wall Street Journal lap time, Ternus' background, and Apple's F1 deal: CarExpert
The 935's road status, Apple's car project, and CarPlay in the Vantage: Autonext
Ternus' reported 935 ownership: Motor1
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Jeffrey Wiley has spent more time than he'd like to admit thinking about what makes a car look right. He writes about automotive design, car culture, and the opinions people have strong feelings about. He lives in north Georgia.
