If you’ve followed Porsche’s racing efforts in North America over the years, chances are good you’ve run across the Andial name. Porsche models prepared by Andial won the 24 Hours of Daytona from 1983-87, and again in 1989. If that’s not impressive enough, the first five finishers in 1987 all drove Andial-prepped Porsches.

Andial also developed a fearsome reputation in the IMSA-GT series, the IMSA Supercar Series and the North American Endurance Championship. Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, Andial-prepared Porsches were the cars to beat.

Today, the Andial name is more closely associated with performance parts for Porsche automobiles than racing victories, but it’s still an important part of Porsche’s motorsports heritage. On Thursday, Porsche announced the purchase of the Andial brand, which will now fall under the umbrella of Porsche Motorsport.

Of the acquisition, Porsche Motorsports North America president Jens Walther said, “We have always considered Andial a member of the Porsche family, and now we are pleased to have the name become an official part of Porsche Motorsport.”

Andial was founded in 1975, and its name derives from the names of its founders (ArNold Wagner, DIeter Inzenhofer and ALwin Springer). Wagner died in 2011, and Inzenhofer has announced his retirement at the end of the month. In other words, the time was right for Porsche to acquire the brand.

It’s not yet clear what, if anything, Porsche will do with the Andial name. We’d like nothing better than to see it associated with race-winning Porsches once again, though it’s hard to imagine Porsche will be willing to dilute its brand identity.