Porsche 908 K Flunder Spyder

Premiere: June 1, 1969 Nürburgring 1000 km

The 908/02 K Spyder and 908 K Flunder Spyder were basically the same cars with slightly different bodyworks. If you look at the non-Flunder Spyder, you see that the body drops after the front wheel arch and rises again before the rear wheel arch. In the Flunder version, this concavity doesn't exist. The difference between the two versions was mainly visual, no difference in racing use. The first competition the Flunder was entered, was the Nürburgring 1000 km on June 1, 1969. Rolf Stommelen and Hans Herrmann drove the #4 908/02 K Flunder to second place behind a 908/02 K non-Flunder Spyder of Jo Siffert/Brian Redman.

1969 June 1 Nürburgring 1000 km 2nd place 908 K Flunder Spyder (chassis 908/02-016) #4 Rolf Stommelen/Hans Herrmann© unknown (please inform if you know)

While the non-Flunder 908 Spyders were built with chassis numbers beginning with 908/02-xxx, only a few 908 Flunder Spyders had the 908/02 chassis and the rest were converted from first generation 908/01s with chassis numbers 908-xxx (for example cars that were born as 908 Coupes). That is also the reason the headline of this article doesn't include "/01" or "/02" as the Flunder Spyders were built with both chassis.

At the 1969 Watkins Glen 6 hour race, the 908/02 K Flunder Spyder driven by Jo Siffert/Brian Redman was the winning car. It was followed by two 908/02 K non-Flunders making it another great finish among countless Porsche triumphs of the Ferdinand Piëch era.

1969 July 12, Watkins Glen 6h winning Porsche 908/02 K Flunder Spyder #1 driven by Jo Siffert and Brian Redman © Porsche

1969 October 5 Barcelona 12 hours 2nd place 908/02 K Flunder Spyder (chassis 908/02-008, born as a non-Flunder) #2 of David Piper/Chris Craft© unknown (please inform if you know)

The versions of Porsche 908 were successful around the world and a 908 K Flunder Spyder of Gerhard Koch/Hans-Dieter Dechent scored 3rd at the Kyalami 9 hour race in South Africa on November 8, 1969.

All the five 908/01 LH-69 Coupés (chassis 908-022...026) that were built for the 1969 Daytona 24 hours and used in a few other races, were rebuilt as 908 Spyders and sold to private drivers. They used the chassis from 908/01 and the body panels from the 908/02 Flunder Spyders (both K and LH).

As the poster says McQueen won the 1970 SCCA National Holtville race on February 1 (to be honest, the 908 was from a different league compared to the other cars at the event). On March 1 he won the Phoenix charity sprint with a new lap record. © Porsche

At the Sebring 12h race on March 21, 1970, actor and car enthusiast Steve McQueen teamed up with Peter Revson to drive a 908 K Flunder Spyder (chassis 908-022) and well they did. As McQueen had broken his foot at the dirt bike race not long before the Sebring event, his foot was in casting. To make McQueen's dream work, the team had to modify the foot room in the car for Steve to be able to drive the car. McQueen raced fighting the pain in his foot. Revson naturally was faster of the two, averagely 8 seconds per lap, and did the lion's share of the 12 hour driving. Finally, their 3-litre Porsche finished just 22 seconds behind the winning 5-litre Ferrari 512 S.

1970 March 21, Sebring, before the start of the 12h race, Steve McQueen is in #48 908 K Flunder Spyder (chassis 908-022). He had raced different types of vehicles already since 1959 (including 2 victories in his 1958 Porsche 356 A 1600 Super Speedster).© Louis Galanes

1970 Sebring 12h, Steve McQueen (can be told by the helmet) will be overtaken by the 12-cylinder 917 (Jo Siffert/Brian Redman/Leo Kinnunen - they will retire later because of the accident)© Porsche

1970 Sebring film, Part 1: 68 cars start on the 5.2-mile course

1970 Sebring film, Part 2

1970 Sebring film, Part 3 shows Revson in car #48 passing slower cars at an amazing pace plus interview with McQueen who drove with his foot still in casting

1970 Sebring film, Part 5

On April 19, 1970, a 500 km race was held at Zolder race track and the second place was taken by Helmut Leuze/Peter Hoffmann in a 908/02 K Flunder Spyder.

Steve McQueen had an idea to make The Le Mans film and so he signed his 908 up for the 1970 Le Mans. The car was equipped with three cameras, one in front and two at the back. The car was driven by Herbert Linge and Jonathan Williams. They had to make extra pit stops for changing the film rolls, but still managed to cover 282 laps which was not bad compared to the winner's 343 laps. 1970 was the year Porsche took overall Le Mans victory for the first time (with the 917).

Solar Productions' 908 with one camera in front and two at the rear above the transmission© unknown (please inform us if you know)

1970 Shaunisland hill climb, Helmut Marko Porsche 908 K Flunder Spyder — 1970 July 26, Freiburg-Schauinsland hill climb, second place car of Helmut Marko© Willy Pragher / Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, reference no. LABW_5-798083-1

On October 11, 1970 a 1000 km race was held in Austria at Zeltweg and the 3rd place was taken by a 908/02 K Flunder Spyder of Gérard Larrousse/Rudi Lins.

Continue to 908 LH Flunder Spyder

Anniversaries: Apr, 25 – 90th birthday of the Porsche company (1931); May, 09 – 35th birthday of the 961 (1986); May, 10 – 78th birthday of Wolfgang Porsche (1943); May, 14 – 60th birthday of the 787 (1961); May, 15 – 39th birthday of the 956 (1982)