If someone were to make a list of the greatest racecars ever made , the Porsche 917 would almost certainly have to be on it . In fact , the 917 makes a pretty good type for itself to be the nifty racecar of all sentence .
Want some proof ? How about how with some iteration of the automobile rated between 1,110 and 1,500horsepower , it remain one of the most powerful racecars ever made – not bad for a elevator car that compete in the former seventies .
Then there ’s how the car predominate at the track , fix multiple triumph at the 24 hr of Le Mans , Daytona , Watkins Glen and a host of other events and tracks . The car was also memorialize in the Steve McQueen film " Le Mans , " which included footage of its triumph in that race in 1970 [ source : Lieberman ] .
There are many more cause why the 917 is considered among the all - time great . If you do n’t straightaway know those three numbers game , do n’t worry – you ’ve probably seen the machine in exposure somewhere .
With the car ’s low , wide shape that included a tapering tail at the back , swooping front buffer and massivetires , it see especially strike in its iconic gloomy - and - orange Gulf Oil livery . Yes , it’sthatcar .
According to Porsche , when 50 international motor sports experts from the British magazine Motor Sport were asked to name the greatest racing car in chronicle , they abduce the Porsche 917 [ source : Porsche ] .
But while its reputation is considerable today , the 917 got off to a bumpy start in the late sixties when Porsche fight to build enough deterrent example of the car to qualify for challenger . Then they had bother incur drivers intrepid enough to drive the beast , whose power far outpaced its treatment . It was also ab initio plagued with development problems . But Porsche persevered with the 917 , and after some tweak , the German car manufacturer had a more than just a victor on their hands – they had the makings of a legend .
In this article we ’ll learn all about what made the iconic 917 tick , and take a look at its last impact on racing and popular refinement .
Porsche 917 Development
Development of the Porsche 917 racecar get along about due to a rule modification inmotorsports . In 1968 , the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile , the outside racing governing body unremarkably bed as the FIA , announced a new course of racing for sports cars withenginesno greater than 5 liters and that weigh at least 1,760 pounds ( 798.3 kilograms ) . The decision was made to allow cars with smaller engines to race in the World Sports Car Championship and to attract novel companies to the grid [ source : Read ] .
In this new class of racing , only 25 instance of the car had to be build instead of 50 , which turn down the cost of entry and product for other manufacturer . Development was headed by an engineer named Ferdinand Piëch , a extremity of the Porsche family and the chairman of the Volkswagen Group today .
But when FIA functionary visited Porsche ’s factory to inspect the cars for the 1969 racing season , they found only six object lesson of the 917 , although engineers allege they had the parts to construct the repose . The FIA state " no agency , " and mandated Porsche have all 25 cars completed to subspecies .
So in just three weeks , Porsche rushed the remain cars into construction , using secretaries and power workers to quickly assemble the cars in time . They succeeded in build all 25 of the cable car , and they pass by FIA review – although some of them hardly pass and afterwards had to be reassemble and rebuilt by Porsche mechanics [ generator : Porsche ] .
Once it depart rush along , achiever was not straightaway . The automobile only won one race its first season and was plagued with handling topic . It exhibited wheel twirl at 200 miles per hour ( 321.9 kilometre per 60 minutes ) , and its instability on the caterpillar tread resulted in the demise of a driver . fortuitously , John Wyer ’s Gulf Oil squad discovered that adding aluminum sheets to the 917 ’s rearward death added some much - needed stability and downforce . Suddenly , the car – now call the 917 K – became a monster on the raceway [ source : Lieberman ] .
Before we look at the Porsche 917 ’s racing record , let ’s ascertain a little more about the car itself . In this next department , we ’ll learn about its railway locomotive , anatomy and how it used fresh techniques to keep its weight down .
Porsche 917 Specifications
The 917 was project to race in a class of cars with smallerenginesthan the Ford GT40 , which overlook the World Sports Car Championship for year with its monumental V-8 engine . But do n’t let the word " smaller " fool you – the 917 ’s locomotive had a little less displacement , but it was nothing to put one over around with .
The motorcar packed a 4.5 - cubic decimetre , air - cooled flat-12 - cylinder engine , standardised in design to the monotonous - six or boxer engine used in the Porsche 911 mutant car . The 917 engine ab initio had 520horsepower , could do the zero to 60 miles per time of day ( 96.6 kilometers per hour ) sprint in 2.5 second and had a top speeding of airless to 250 mile per 60 minutes ( 402.3 kilometre per hour ) [ rootage : Read ] .
The locomotive was capable of far more than that . When Porsche began using the 917 to contend in Can - Am racing , which carried far fewer regulation than other events , the locomotive engine was tuned andturbochargedto give rise anywhere between 1,000 and 1,500 horsepower . Even today it ranks among the most powerful racecars ever to compete .
But an locomotive is nothing without a body to put it in , and fortunately , the 917 had an impressive one . It featured a lightweight aluminium anatomy that weighed just over 100 pound ( 45.4 kilograms ) , and include a variety of free weight saving beat like a gearstick node made from balsa woodwind instrument . The body itself was made of fiberglass [ source : Lieberman ] .
In gain , the motorcar featured interchangeable rear end . Teams could choose between the " long bottom " with lowdragfor races with lots of consecutive sections , or the " short tail " for races with curves when downforce is call for . Other iterations of the car included a combining long / short tail assembly , and open - cockpit " Spyder " versions .
The 917 is also famous for come in a variety show of blusher schemes , including the famous Gulf Oil colors , as well as a " Pink Pig " interpretation and a psychedelic fleeceable - and - regal " Hippie Car " modelling raced by Martini Racing . Hey , it was the 1970s , after all [ source : Porschebahn ] .
In the next section , we ’ll await at what made the Porsche 917 so memorable today – its taste for win races .
Porsche 917 at the Racetrack
Ferdinand Piëch ’s goal for the Porsche 917 left nothing to the imagination : he desire it " to be the best . Everywhere " [ source : Porsche ] . However , while the car was unveil in 1969 , it would be a while before it would achieve immenseness .
The cable car ’s handling was so waterlogged in other raceway that many drivers refuse to fly it . Porsche asked two BMW drivers for a 1969 race on the Nürburgring , but they refused , tell the automobile was too unsafe . after on , a gadget driver constitute John Woolfe was down in a 917 at the 24 minute of Le Mans . The car ended up only make headway a single race in 1969 [ source : Lieberman ] .
The 1970 racing season proved to be a better yr once the Wyer team ironed out the kinks in the 917 ’s handling . The auto went on to claim triumph at Daytona , Brands Hatch , Monza , Spa , the Nürburgring , the Targa Florio , Watkins Glen and at the Österreichring in Austria . The season ’s high head come in in June when the 917 win the long - desired overall profits at the 24 hour of Le Mans . The car won nine of 10 races that yr to secure the World Championship of Makes trophy [ author : Porsche ] .
Footage from the 1970 Le Mans subspecies was used to create the Steve McQueen film " Le Mans , " where the 917 sport prominently in the story . The Gulf Oil 917 K was drive by McQueen ’s character Michael Delaney as he combat Ferrari ’s 512 racecars .
The following year was evenly successful . The railcar defended its world trophy in 1971 by winning eight of 10 race and once again won the 24 60 minutes of Le Mans . This fourth dimension , it set a phonograph record of 240 miles per 60 minutes ( 386.2 kilometers per hour ) on the track ’s Mulsanne straight , a exploit that has yet to be bust today .
The 917 became so dominant that the FIA once again changed their regulations , and the elevator car was no longer eligible to compete . So Porsche add it North America , where they enter it in the Sports Car Club of America ’s Canadian American Challenge Cup , well jazz as CanAm . This form of racing had far fewer regulations than the FIA race , so the elevator car was able to compete with well over 1,000horsepower . As could be expect , it dominate there as well [ source : Porsche ] .
Only 65 examples of the Porsche 917 were ever build up . Seven be in the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart , Germany , while many others are in the hands of collector all over the public . They incline to require high agiotage at auction due to their prestigious histories – and still inspire reverence over their power today .
