At the 77th Members Meeting, I had the opportunity to get up close to undoubtedly the most iconic race car in the world; the Porsche 917. The Porsche 917 was made famous from Steve Mcqueen in ‘Le Mans’, the fibreglass bodied prototype packed a 4.5 Litre air cooled flat 12 (with the option for a 4.9L), with the car eventually being able to produce 1000-1500 horsepower with the Can-Am regulations (with the help of a turbocharger). The car produced 520 Horsepower when in regulations of the WSC, with the car doing 0-60 in 2.5 seconds, and hitting a crazy 240mph along the Mulsanne straight in 1970. The car even managed to complete a lap at Le Mans with an average speed of 138mph!
Before the car started racing, it had a rocky start. The FIA officials came to the Porsche garage to inspect the newly built cars for the ‘69 season. In the regulations, it was stated that 25 cars had to be built for the model to be officially entered; however, the team only had 6 cars present, with the engineers saying that they did have the parts for the other 19 cars. Hoping that the FIA would let them by and accept them into the championship, the governing body quickly rejected it. This resulted in the Porsche team having to build these remaining cars; and quick! The German manufacturer needed these cars built so quickly, the team had to use office workers and secretaries to ensure that the car was built in time for it to be passed and run. The 25 cars passed FIA inspection, but it was noted in saying that the 19 cars that were rushed were barely running and had to be rebuilt and reassembled by the mechanics later on in the year.
The car was plagued with cornering issues from the start. The car only won a single race in its first season (the 1000KM of Zeltweg). With the car somehow managing to produce wheelspin at 200MPH, the car ended up killing a privateer due to the instability. The death of the privateer (John Wolffe) was also the reason why the infamous ‘Le Mans Starts’ where you had to run to your car was abandoned, as another relation to that death was that he didn’t do up his seatbelt because he wanted the best start possible. Porsche ended up not going to races where long distance trips were involved, with the works team focusing on the development of the car instead.
In 1970, the car was still causing sleepless nights for the mechanics, with the instability of the car unaffected and no changes yet made to the car. However, driver John Wyer’s chief mechanic noticed that the car had a certain pattern of dead bugs against it. The lack of dead bugs on the tail of the car told the mechanics that the air wasn’t flowing over the tail of the car, therefore not producing downforce. This ended up being the eureka moment for the team, with the team doing a temporary bodge-job and taping aluminium sheets together in the pits to make a tail. Combined with the plastic engine cover being removed from the car, the test drivers drove the car around the Österreichring, and both came back being completely satisfied with the car, the new version was dubbed the 917K, with the ‘K’ meaning short tail in German. This was the start of the dominance of Porsche.
The newly improved 917 dominated the 1970 season, with it winning every race but one that it was entered into. The infamous red and white 917LH (Long Tail) won the 24H of Le Mans, with the larger engined teammate (4.9L) dropping an inlet valve 225 laps into the race. Upgrading from the underdogs to outright dominators of the race, Porsche really held their place as the top team right into 1971, where the 917’s broke numerous records at Le Mans, including the fastest qualifying lap, the fastest lap during the race, the highest top speed and the longest distance covered. The 917s eventually won the whole series in '71 as well, with the car winning 9 out of 11 races in the year, again showing outright dominance in the series.
With the FIA deciding to change the regulations in '72, the 917s were forced out of the series. The regulation change was stated that all cars in Group 5 had to use 3 litres engines; this rule was added to try and get manufacturers from the newly named ‘World Championship of Makes’ and Formula 1 to join each other's series, as they both now shared the same engine regulations. This made Porsche leave the series with there prototypes and focus on the less restrictive Can-Am series in the states.
To be successful in the Cam-Am, the car had to go through changes. The modified 917s (Dubbed the 917/10K) firstly had engine changes, with the 12 cylinder engine having a turbocharger attached to it. With a new fibreglass open cockpit body also being added to the car, the first Can-Am 917 was proven to be an outright success with the Penske Racing Porsche 917/10K winning the first championship that it entered.
The last revision of the 917 was introduced in the 1973 season, dubbed the 917/30. The now iconic yellow and blue prototype sported new aerodynamics, an extended wheelbase and a new 5.4l engine (with another turbo added to it), the insane monster pumped out 1580hp! The car ended up winning all but 2 races in the series. This season was, unfortunately, the last Can-Am that the car ran in, with the series turning to a 3 miles per gallon rule not only due to the oil crisis but due to the insanity of the cars. It has been said that this particular variation of the 917 was the car that killed Can-Am, due to the power that it produced was just too much for any track and driver. The car was so fast, it averaged 221mph at Talladega Speedway! Mark Donohue commented on his famous ‘Sunoco’ liveried car, saying that 'If you can leave black marks from the exit of one corner all the way to the entry of the next one, you know you've got enough horsepower'.
The final ‘Hurrah’ came for the 917 in 1981, 12 years after the first car was entered into Le Mans! A regulation change meant that the car could be entered, and with some modifications, the Kremer Racing team did just that. The newly updated car entered the ‘81 24hrs of Le Mans, where it qualified in the top 10, but unfortunately had to retire due to a collision in the 7th hour of the race. This wasn’t the final race for the car, however, as in that same year the team took it to Kent, where the car competed in the 6 hours of Brands Hatch. The car was proved to be competitive in the race, with the car eventually having to retire due to the suspension failing.
The 917 is still iconic to this day and almost any racing fan can spot one from a mile off. The heritage of the model lives on thanks to events such as the Goodwood Members Meeting and will hopefully be remembered for a very long time to come!
What do you think is the most iconic race car? Let me know on @Gould_Motorsport