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Porsche 917/20 Pink Pig in Stuttgart Zuffenhausen
Porsche 917/30 in Stuttgart Zuffenhausen
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Porsche 917
The Porsche 917 (Type 917) gave Porsche its first overall wins at the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1970 and 1971. Powered by the Type 912 flat-12 engine of 4.5, 4.9, or 5 liters, the long-tailed version was capable of a 0-62mph time of less than 2.5 seconds and a top speed of over 248 mph (394 km/h).
In the 1973 CanAm series, the turbocharged version Porsche 917/30 developed over 1100 bhp.
The 917 is one of the most iconographic sports racing cars of all time and was even made into a movie star by Steve McQueen in his film Le Mans.
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 1969
3 1970
4 1971
5 1972, 1973 and after
6 Books about the 917
History
In April 1968, the FIA's CSI announced that the minimal production figure to compete in the Sport category of the World Sportscar Championship was reduced from 50 to 25 for 1969, mainly to allow the homologation of the Lola T70, as there were too few entries in the 3 litres Prototype category which was introduced to use existing Formula 1 engines.
Starting in July 1968, Porsche made a surprising and very expensive effort to take advantage of this rule. They decided to conceive, design and build 25 versions of a whole new car for the Sport category with one underlying goal: to win its first overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In only ten months the Porsche 917 was developed based upon the Porsche 908, with remarkable technology: Porsche’s first 12-cylinder engine, and many components made of titanium, magnesium and exotic alloys that had been developed for lightweight hillclimb racers. Other ways of weight reduction were rather simple, like a gear lever knob made of Balsa wood.
On March 12, 1969, the first 917 was displayed at the Geneva Motor Show, painted white, with a green nose and black #917. Brief literature on the car detailed a cash price of DM 140,000 or approx. £16,000 - or the value of about 10 Porsche 911.
When Porsche was first visited by the CSI inspectors, only three cars were completed, while 18 were being assembled and seven additional sets of parts were present. Porsche argued that if they assembled the cars they would then have to take them apart again to prepare the cars for racing. The inspectors refused the homologation and asked to see 25 assembled and working cars.
On April 20 Ferdinand Piëch displayed 25 917s parked in front of the Porsche factory to the CSI inspectors. Piëch even offered the opportunity to drive one of the cars, which was declined.