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Porsche 917

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Porsche News

Porsche celebrates “50 years of the 917”

50 years of the Porsche 917 Anniversary The most famous racing car of all time made its debut at the Geneva Motor Show on 12 March 1969, and the Porsche Museum is celebrating the landmark birthday with plans to restore the first 917 ever made to its original condition, as...
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Porsche News

Valuable Porsche book discount offer

We have published no less than 77 book reviews in the last three years, bringing you news and comments on some of the best Porsche publications to hit the book shops during that time. We know that many of our readers find the Book Review section on our website particularly...
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Motorsport & Racing

Kyalami 9 Hour – Revival of a Great Classic

Kyalami Racing Circuit – 2019 Last held officially as a 9-hour race back in 1982, Kyalami will play host to the revival of a great classic endurance race next month, the Kyalami 9 Hour. Run by the masters of the international endurance motor racing scene today, the SRO Motorsport Group,...
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Book Reviews

Motor Racing – The Pursuit of Victory 1963-1972

Motor Racing – The Pursuit of Victory 1963-1972 by Steve Wyatt © Veloce Publishing Limited The age of motorsport, when an aspiring photographer could amble around the paddock snapping world championship drivers, team personnel and stripped race cars, is long gone. Today, even with the required media accreditation, you have...
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People & Profiles

Ferdinand Piëch: 17 April 1937 to 25 August 2019

Professor Ferdinand Porsche (centre) with F. A. ‘Butzi’ Porsche (left) and Ferdinand Piëch (right), ca. 1949 Ferdinand Karl Piëch was born in Vienna, Austria, on 17 April 1937, to Louise (daughter to Ferdinand and sister of Ferry Porsche) and Anton Piëch, a lawyer. He was the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche,...
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Motorsport & Racing

From a 356 to the latest 991.2 GT3 Clubsport

Rennsport Collective, Donington Hall, 20 July 2019: Porsche 996 GT1 Evo 1997 on display with numerous other Porsche classics They were all there, from a Pre-A 356 to the latest 991.2 GT3 Clubsport, by way of the most mouth-watering collection of 911s, 956 and 962s, including the indomitable 917. The...
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Events

Inaugural Rennsport Collective Track Day

Just minutes after I drove out of our driveway at 06h15 on Thursday 18 July en route to the inaugural Rennsport Collective track day, so Darren Clarke teed off in the first covey to start the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Port Rush, in Northern Ireland. Both events were momentous...
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Porsche 917

Remembering the Porsche 917 LH accident (Chassis #006/040)

April 6, 1970, Volkswagen test track (Ehra-Lessien). April 6, 1970 was a test day. Factory test driver Kurt Ahrens was testing various aerodynamic solutions on chassis 006/040. The tests lasted all day, although the weather was unlucky – it was drizzling and the track remained wet. Towards evening, a package...
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Motorsport & Racing

What is your favourite Porsche Le Mans livery?

Le Mans 24 Hour, 13-14 June 2015: Lined up prior to the formation lap are (from L-R) – the #18 Porsche 919 Hybrid driven by Marc Lieb/Romain Dumas/Neel Jani (finished 5th); #17 Porsche 919 Hybrid driven by Timo Bernhard/Brendon Hartley/Mark Webber (finished 2nd); #19 Porsche 919 Hybrid driven by Earl...
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Porsche News

50 Years of the Porsche 917 – Colours of Speed

The Porsche 917-001 will be shown in the Porsche Museum for the first time in its original condition My 2019 European Expedition had been organised for some months, which was to take in the WEC Spa-Francorchamps 6 Hours (1-4 May) followed by almost a week in Stuttgart (5-10 May). It...
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Featured Content & Premium Editorials

A Sting in the Tale

Le Mans 24 Hours, 31 May-1 June 1986: Start of the race – Porsches dominate the lead group In Part 1, Stories from Le Mans – with a Porsche flavour, our intrepid scribbler who hails from that beautiful part of South Africa, the Western Cape, shares with us some hilarious...
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Book Reviews

Porsche – The Golden Years

Porsche – The Golden Years: Leonardo Acerbi © Virtual Motorpix/Glen Smale It is always a pleasure when a top-quality book lands on my desk, so when Porsche – The Golden Years arrived at the Porsche Road & Race offices, I was especially pleased. We had the pleasure of reviewing Ferrari...
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Book Reviews

Porsche Graphisme 917 – It’s My World

Porsche – Graphisme 917 by Stéphane Coradi © Virtual Motorpix/Glen Smale Porsche Graphisme 917: This is Stéphane Coradi’s second publication in less than a year, the man is irrepressible. His enthusiasm for the Stuttgart marque knows no bounds, and combined with a unique artistic talent, this new book is quite...
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Porsche Pictures

Our top 10 from 2018

As we wave goodbye to 2018 and usher in a brand-new year, we look back on the top ten favourites that we were privileged to publish in the last twelve months. We have decided to bring you our top 10 from 2018 (in chronological order) to show you, our valued...
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Porsche HistoryPorsche 917PRR

Porsche 917 turns 50 years in 2019

1969 Porsche 917 LH poses outside the workshops in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen © Porsche Werkfoto The world has become obsessed with anniversaries or facts that you can leverage, in order to bring your message across. And that is also true to some extent about this account of a legendary race car, but...
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Book Reviews

Gulf 917 by Jay Gillotti

Gulf 917 by Jay Gillotti – © Dalton Watson Fine Books There is little that you can add to the vast history that is already known about the Porsche 917, or so you might have thought. But the quietly spoken Jay Gillotti, has pieced together a valuable and mightily useful...
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Events

Porsche Rennsport Reunion VI – Laguna Seca 2018

It’s hard to know where to begin when writing a report on Porsche Rennsport Reunion VI. It was both an emotional and a sensory overload! A reunion with people not seen for a while, and the historical impact of all the rare cars. This was the sixth iteration put on...
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Book Reviews

Porsche – It’s My World

Porsche – It’s My World by Stéphane Coradi © Virtual Motorpix/Glen Smale Porsche – It’s My World: what is this book all about? Well, for starters, you won’t learn anything about Porsche’s cars, it doesn’t contain any technical specifications, and it has no narrative. So, you may well ask, what...
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Book Reviews

Brian Redman – Daring Drivers, Deadly Tracks

Brian Redman – Daring Drivers, Deadly Tracks © EVRO Publishing Brian Redman is about as down-to-earth as they come, which for a top-flite racing driver, is not an attribute common to all who ply their trade in this field. I have had the pleasure of interviewing Brian on twelve occasions...
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Book Reviews

Hurley – From the Beginning

© Hurley – From The Beginning (cover) There are just a handful of racing drivers that can list the number and quality of achievements that Hurley Haywood can. True, there might be more than a handful in total, but within each discipline of the sport, there are just a few...
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Book Reviews

Can-Am 50th Anniversary

Can-Am 50th Anniversary: Flat Out with North America’s Greatest Race Series 1966-74 © Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc First impressions – Can-Am 50th Anniversary is a big book! It’s not that it is so thick, but dimensionally it is large in length and breadth, so you had best find yourself...
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Book Reviews

Porsche 917-021 The Fabulous Story

The fabulous story of this car’s life begins in 1970 with the construction of chassis #021, one of the first batch of twenty-five 917s to be built. In April 1970, the newly completed chassis #917-021 was sold to the Finnish AAW team, finished in the red and yellow colours of...
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Engines

Porsche twin-cam 6-cylinder engine

Corsica Rally, 1967: Vic Elford and David Stone driving a Porsche 911 2.0 R Not a company to stand still for long, Porsche was constantly looking for ways to improve its engines in the ‘60s. Somehow the Type 916 twin-cam 6-cylinder engine always seemed to miss the limelight…not anymore! The...
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Book Reviews

The Unfair Advantage

The story of Mark Donohue’s racing achievements has been told in numerous magazine articles over the years. His achievements too, in the famous #6 Sunoco Porsche 917/30 in the 1973 Can-Am series, have been similarly covered many times. But until I read The Unfair Advantage, I had little knowledge of...
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Yesteryear

Porsche Historic Grand Prix Zandvoort

Porsche Historic Grand Prix Zandvoort The crowds attending the Masters Historic racing weekend at Zandvoort were treated to a festival of racing in brilliant weather. To spice up the cars on the race weekend menu, five iconic Porsche racing cars were driven around the circuit which is located in the...
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Porsche Video

VIDEO: Porsche Rennsport Reunion III

Original video footage (45min) of the Porsche Rennsport Reunion III at the Daytona International Speedway, held in November 2007. The event was sponsored by Porsche Cars North America and organised by Brian Redman’s Intercontinental Events, Inc....
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For Sale

FOR SALE: 1970 Porsche chassis 917-024

If you would like to own a piece of motor racing history, no, make that a very significant piece of racing history, then pay attention. Porsche 917 K (chassis #917-024), once owned by the master of the 917 himself, Jo Siffert, was part of his private collection. 917-024 did not...
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People & Profiles

Rolf Stommelen – a driver for all circumstances

Mont Ventoux, 18 June 1967 – Rolf Stommelen won this hillclimb driving a Porsche 910/8 Bergspyder Rolf Stommelen was one of Germany’s leading racing drivers for over a decade and if as the title (above) of his biography implies, he could drive anything anywhere, this was largely true. Although his...
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For Sale

FOR SALE: 1970 Porsche 917/10 Prototype

Mention the name Porsche and motor racing, and minds immediately focus in on one of the famous race cars to pass out through the gates of the Stuttgart manufacturer. Depending on your age or favoured period in racing, the number of ‘best’ racers will be many and varied. However, the...
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Porsche 917

Porsche 917/30 Can-Am Spyder 1973

‘Scary’ is not an adjective uttered often by seasoned racing drivers in the company of their peers, but it tripped easily from the lips of the small band of heroes who drove Porsche’s first 12-cylinder Type 917 sports cars. Few racing cars since the hairy-chested Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union Grand...
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Porsche 917

Porsche 917/20 Turbo (1973 – 1974)

The 917/20 Turbo is a confusing car - its chassis number reads 917/30-001, but it is not the real 917/30. In its first race it was called as the 917/10 Turbo. Sharp eye can detect that it was not just the 917/10 Turbo, but an evolution of it. At the same time it was not the evolution of the 1971 Le Mans 917/20. Still, the car should not be called as the 917/30 to distinct it from the "real" 917/30 Can-Am racers and in 1974 it was decided to call it as the 917/20 Turbo.
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Porsche 917

Porsche 917/30 Spyder (1972 – 1973)

The final evolution of the 917 was created after Ferdinand Piëch had left the Porsche company in 1972. Two complete 917/30 Can-Am cars with 2500 mm (98.4") wheelbase were made for Roger Penske Enterprises racing team. They were chassis 917/30-002 and 003. The 001 car was not a real 917/30 and was raced in Europe at the Interserie. The Can-Am 917/30 had a 5.4-litre flat 12-cylinder twin-turbo engine which produced so much power that nobody really knew how much.
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Porsche 917

Porsche 917/10 Turbo (1972)

Porsche 917/10 Turbo
The first turbo-Porsche, Can-Am winner 1972, Interserie winner 1972, 1973. The first ever publically seen turbocharged Porsche was the 917/10 Turbo with chassis number 917/10-011. It was entered for the June 11, 1972 Can-Am Mosport race. Mark Donohue was fastest in the qualification with it, but scored second in the 80 laps race after the 8.1-litre McLaren. The Porsche Turbo era had begun. Eight 917/10 were racing in 1972 in Can-Am and in Interserie.
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Porsche 917

Porsche 917/10-72 (1972)

The 1972 917/10 was similar in its design to the 908/03, but, of course, had the 12-cylinder engine instead of the 3-litre flat-8. The 917/10-72 was first seen at the Interserie Nürburgring race on April 3. It was the chassis 004 car of Leo Kinnunen and Keimola Racing Team AAW. Kinnunen scored 4th in the first race, but would win the championship by the end of the season. The second Interserie race was at Monza on May 1st and that race was won by chassis 917/10-002 and Willy Kauhsen.
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Porsche 917

Porsche 917/10-71 (1971)

Jo Siffert was the first to take the 917 to Can-Am championship. The car he used in 1969, was the 917 PA Spyder. Although he participated in one Can-Am race in 1970 with a 917 K, that season he skipped. He was back from mid-season 1971 and now with the 917/10. Only two 917/10 were created in 1971. The chassis 001 was used for testing and the 002 by Siffert. He took part in six races out of ten, managed podium finishes three times and scored 4th in the season, like in 1969.
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Porsche 917/20

Porsche 917/20 Le Mans (1971)

Porsche 917/20 Le Mans
An attempt to blend the best aerodynamic characteristics from both the short-tailed 917 K and long-tailed 917 LH led to the the 917/20, otherwise known as the Pink Pig. The car's combination of a long body, stubby face, and wide hips gave it a pig-like look, which inspired Porsche designer Anatole Lapine to give the car a pink paint job with butcher cut lines covering the exterior. It was hugely popular at the 1971 Le Mans race, and was the fastest in qualifying and nearly came in fifth place, before a brake failure caused it to crash before the finish line.
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Porsche 917

Porsche 917 K-71 (1971)

The “shark fins” on the tail gave the Porsche 917 KH 1971 greater directional stability and reduced wind resistance by 11 percent. In 1971 a veritable armada of six Porsche 917s started at Le Mans. The car with start number 22 was special. The white race car with the characteristic Martini stripes had the new “shark fins” on the tail that Porsche had first used in pretraining in April. This 917 was also the first Porsche with a magnesium tubular frame to be used in a race.
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Porsche 917

Porsche 917 LH-71 (1971)

Like the 917 LH of 1969 and 1970, the 1971 version was also made for one race only - the 24 hours of Le Mans. The 917 LH-70 had already proved that the body was excellent for Le Mans, so the aerodynamical modifications for 1971 were mild. The front was modified and the rear wheels were covered. The 917 LH-70 that scored 2nd at the 1970 Le Mans 24H (chassis 917-043) was modified for the Le Mans 1971.
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Porsche 917

Porsche 917 K-70 (1970)

The 917 Kurzheck Coupé (917K) first appeared in 1970 and contributed more to the Porsche 917 story than any other variant. It was a high-down force version that featured a cut-off tail for increased downforce. This reduced the cars top speed, as much as 30 mph. Le Mans winner 1970, Interserie winner 1970 and Manufacturers' World Championship for Porsche in 1970.
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Porsche 917

Porsche 917 LH-70 (1970)

With the aerodynamic instability of the 917 in the 1969, two separate configurations were used in 1970. These were the short-tail Kurzheck version and the less common Langheck or long-tail. Most of the 917's accolades were achieved by the 917 Kurzheck, leaving the Langheck a less popular, but ultimately just as potent contender.
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Porsche 917

Porsche 917 ‘Interserie Spyder’ (1969 – 1970)

By 1969, Porsche develops the 917 Spyder with a view to competing in the extremely popular North American racing series, the Canadian American Challenge Cup (Can-Am). Three units featuring 4.5-litre twelve-cylinder naturally aspirated engines are constructed in Zuffenhausen, and Jo Siffert takes one to the US to compete in the Can-Am races, ultimately placing fourth overall. The car becomes known as the 917 PA Spyder, with “PA” standing for “Porsche + Audi” as they are the two sales organisations in the US at the time.
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Porsche 917

Porsche 917 K-69 (1969)

Although the longtail 917 was introduced first, it was meant only for the Le Mans. This meant, the short tail 917 K ("Kurz" in German for short) was raced first. The only engine available in 1969 was the 4.5-litre flat 12. The factory team enters one 917 K also for the Nürburgring 1000 km race, where it scores 8th. The factory team would not enter 917 K for racing anymore in the season, only private teams will.
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Porsche 917

Porsche 917 LH-69 (1969)

For the 1969 racing season an absolutely new Porsche 917 with 4.5-litre 12-cylinder engine was created. Ferdinand Piëch relied on the skilfulness of Hans Mezger, who was responsible for the overall construction of the vehicle and its engine. The aim was to create the fastest racing car ever. Short and long tail versions were developed, called as the 917 K ("Kurz" = short in German) and the 917 LH ("Langheck" = long tail). The first car was assembled in December 1968.
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Porsche News

Porsche 917 at 40

Porsche 917 Turns 40 Porsche launched the 917 40 years ago and it’s still their most important racecar to date. This dangerous, yet successful machine gave Porsche victory at Le Mans and all the other international races of its time. Porsche started their long 917 race program in 1969 with a...
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