19 March 2009 - 14:00
Four decades of cool
Time for a history lesson, boys and girls. So open your textbooks and let's begin.
It's 40 years since Porsche gave us the 917, one of the coolest, quickest
racing cars ever made. If you're too young to remember it or not beardy enough
to know, the 917 won Le Mans in 1970, and again in '71 - the same year it was
immortalised in Steve McQueen's film about the race.
But the 917 didn't just win - lots of
cars have done that. It was the way it did it. In 1971 it set a record 138mph
lap, which no car has ever beaten since the organisers plonked a chicane on the
Mulsanne straight. And talking of the Mulsanne, Vic Elford drove his 917 to
240mph along the 3.5-mile straight in 1970, in the rain, at night, which pretty
much blew the opposition far into the French countryside.
So how did it all come about? Believe it or not, it's all thanks to the FIA. In
1969, it changed the rules to allow smaller engines into the World Sports Car
Championship (up until then, cars like the Ford GT40 with its massive V8 were
the kings) and attract new teams to the grid. But the cars also had to be
homologated. In other words, they had to be built and sold to regular
customers for road use, too. As long as a manufacturer built at least 25 cars
for road use, they could take it racing.
So Porsche got to work. The 917 was given an unusual 4.5-litre, flat
12-cylinder engine, good for about 520bhp, 0-60 in around 2.5 seconds and a top
speed approaching 250mph. Gulp. The engine was sunk into a chassis made from tubular
aluminium (magnesium on later cars), and everything was wrapped up in
lightweight glassfibre.
There were a few different body styles, designed to take on different circuits.
Need something to demolish a tight and twisty track? Pick the short tail. Wanna
nail Le Mans? Get yourself a long tail. But what made the 917 stick in the mind
was its crazy array of paintjobs. You can't help but think of one in classic
Gulf colours, which is how it looked best. But there were others, including a
mad, psychedelic ‘hippie car' (designed by the guys at Martini Racing who were
clearly on acid) and a fetching pink car, nicknamed the ‘pig'.
In a very short time, the cars dominated the world sports car scene. Aside from
blitzing Le Mans, it was impressive at Daytona, on the Targa Florio and at the
Österreichring (which is somewhere scary in Austria, apparently).
And then things got really wild. When the FIA gave up on its new regs at the
end of '71, Porsche took the car Stateside and entered it into the CanAm
championship - a mad, bad, utterly insane and liberally regulated series full
of massively powerful machinery. Porsche modified the 917 to become the 917/10,
which had about 1,000bhp and promptly obliterating the opposition. It won the
championship, came back with a 1,500bhp(!) car the next season and won it
again, before the FIA had to change the rules to give others a chance. Boo.
So there you have it: the Porsche 917, probably the greatest racing car ever.
If you disagree, let us know why in the comments bit below...
Want to comment on this?
I'd really like it if Porsche was less of an anal retentive about their cars being in games. Us gamers miss out on a lot. Same goes for Ferrari and Lamborghini.
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Watched one win the 9 hours at Kyalami in the early '70's. Absolutely awesome to listen to and bloody quick.
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There are 4 iconic Sports Racing Cars of the 70's 1) GT 40 Mk III, 2) Lola T70 Mk III B, Ferrari 512, and the Porsche 917. The most exciting was called the Psychedelic Whale
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Takk, I agree, but ferrari are now in GT5P and Lambo and Porsche are in NFS titles(why, I'll never know). But I have to say this is the best porsche ever made and one of the best 10 cars ever made.
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i've never heard of this car, but it looks good. I really like Le Mans, and old cars. So this is my sort of car. I agree that Porsche, ferrari and Lamborghini never let there cars in games, but Ferrari are in GT5, not sure about the other two.
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Never heeard of it, but sounds good and looks good. My kind of car, old, but fast.
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Can't wait till Gt5 with Ferraris and top gear test track
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without a doubt one of the coolest racing cars of all time. i just wish i was old enough to have seen them racing for real
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Simply the best racingcar ever! My favourite over any Ferrari! Ever!
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GT5 is gonna ROCK!!!!!!!!!! needs crash damage. Lambo should give the rights to polphony so we can have lambos. and i thought you could get RUF as opposed to porsche (RUF is a porche tuning company)
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1,500 BHP!!!! THATS INSANE!!!!!!!!!!
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The same performance as a Veyron with nearly half the power? That's one lightweight car!! Best looking either as a Gulf-liveried short tail (Steeve McQueen style) or as the first picture in your shiny gallery. On the subject of games, if special cars kept appearing in game after game, they might lose their specialness. However, Porsche & Lamborghini have been in Need For Speed games since the very first one in the very early '90s. Hell, There was even a Porsche-only game at the turn of the Century! Unfortunately with no 917, but everything from 356s to the 996 Turbo, with 935 'Moby Dicks' and 550 Spyders inbetween.
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Wait a sec! They make GT40 kits cars....Why in the world are there no 917's? I hope I'm missing somthing here!?
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I think that they started designing the excitement out of racing cars after the 917/30.
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Another reason why i would instantly choose a Porsche over any Ferrari or Lamborghini. Porsche is the pinnacle of performance-car engineering.
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totally agree with EU-niqe PORSCHE ARE AMAZING
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This is an example of engineers being given free reign, and Porsche of all people to make this car is just mad. Any chance of a drive in one?
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The Le Mans movie and that car was what made me love and want a Porsche more than any Ferrari or any of the others back in the day (anyone remember Derek Bell?). Great stuff.
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LOL(Ferrari-F430 commented on this article 20 March 2009 totally agree with EU-niqe PORSCHE ARE AMAZING) Then why are you called Ferrari-F430! I also can't wait for gt5, if you have the prolouge you'll know what I mean and how good it is, with over 900 cars, best graphics on PS 3, the Top Gear Track and many more, online racing, new concept cars being released on it(e.g. Citroen GT), downloadable content like D1GP events and episodes of top gear, ultra realistic handling and speed, cabin views of all cars, the list goes on, and all on one cd for under £40 and my G25 Logitech wheel. THIS IS GONNA ROCK!
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Forza Motorsports on the Xbox and Xbox 360 has had Porches, Lambos and Ferraris from day one. And with the downloadable content that it has for the 360 you can get a few of the more interesting ones too. I am looking forward to GT5 [mainly for the stupid number of cars and graphics] but hopefully they'll have damage models on it as well.
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Yep the Porsche 917K as driven in the Le Mans film, Ferrari 512M and S, Lola T70 3 B and the GT40 were the best sports cars ever as far as I'm concerned. I think most people know about kit versions of the GT40 but if I'm not mistaken you can also buy Lola T70's from their factory at Huntingdon for historic sports car racing or even legal ones. If I ever won the lottery that is the kind of car I'd buy... stuff modern designs. Come on Porsche take inspiration from Ford and make a new 917 so we can go to work in style!
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Open Car Bar
Mr._Nice commented on this article
19 March 2009
They have one of these at the Simeone Foundation Museum in Philadelphia PA. Well worrth a look if you're ever nearby there and have time to stop.
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