Below are some of the major events / steps in the evolution and history of the Porsche 917 (currently focussed on the core 917 version, rather than 917/10 or 917/30 variants). The aim is to provide both some of the developmental stages as well as the events 917s competed in.
your complete guide to
the Porsche 917
the Porsche 917
| 1968 - April | FIA announce that only 25 cars would be required to compete in the Sports Car Class from 1969. |
| 1968 - July | Ferdinand Piech gains approval from his uncle (Ferry Porsche) to design a new racing car - Project 917 |
| 1969 - March 12th | Geneva Motor Show. The first 917 was displayed on the Automobile Club de Suisse stand (painted white with a green nose). Brief literature on the car detailed a cash price of DM 140,00 or approx. £16,000 |
| 1969 - March | Dean Delamont (FIA representative) told Porsche that he wanted to see all 25 917s to gain entry to the Sports Car Class. He promised to be back in 4 weeks |
| 1969 - April 20th | Piech proudly displayed all 25 cars and even offered Delamont the opportunity to drive one - which he declined ! |
| 1969 - May 1st | 917 officially accepted to race by the FIA |
| 1969 - March/April | Le Mans test weekend. Stommelen was the first out in a 917 & clocked 216mph down the straight ! Best average lap speed was 143mph compared to 139mph in the long-tail 908. But the drivers were not happy, complaining it was difficult to handle |
| 1969 - May 11th | Spa - A pair of 917s were entered for Siffert/Redman & Mitter/Schutz. Siffert set pole in a 917, but decided to race a 908 Little known Mitter was more keen to drive a 917 to gain press coverage, but after only 1 lap he blew the engine by shifting into 3rd rather than 5th (a mistake to be seen again in the 917s life time) |
| 1969 - June 1st | Nurburgring 1000km. A single 917 (chassis 917.004) was entered for David Piper & Frank Gardner who struggle with the car, & finished 8th overall. |
| 1969 | A few tweeks were made to the car :
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| 1969 - June 14-15 | Le Mans - 3 Cars entered. The Rolf Stommelen & Kurt Ahrens car started from pole (with an average speed of 148mph) & went all out to win the race. But within 1.5 hours they were slowed with clutch problems. Vic Elford & Richard Attwood qualified 2nd (av. 147mph) and agreed to take it easy and utilise the 917s 30mph straight line speed advantage. They led until early Sunday morning when the same clutch problems took them out aswell. Privateers John Woolfe & Herbert Linge took the 3rd car (chassis 917.005). Woolfe made a great start until a tricky high speed corner where he lost control & hit the armco. The highly fuelled car exploed & killed the driver. |
| 1969 - August 10th | Austrian Grand Prix at Osterreichring. Improvements included louvres in the front wings to help brake cooling, large front brake scoops & wheel arch extensions at the back to accomodate the new 15” wheels. The moving rear elevons were also tweeked.
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| 1969 - September | JW Automotive Engineering (with John Wyer & John Willment as senior partners) agree a deal with Grady Davis (the Executive Vice President of Gulf Oil) to bring the Gulf Oil Corporation to motor racing Wyer Meets Ferry Porsche & Peich at Zuffenhausen where Wyer agrees to run the Porsche Team using 7 loaded cars - the team would be called “Gulf Porsche” |
| 1969 - October | Japanese Sports Car Race. David Piper privately enters in the race partnered with Siffert. They finish 6th Hockenheim. David Piper again privately enters and finishes 3rd Test session at Zeltweg with Porsche & JWE. Coupes & the developmental 917 PA (a crude spyder in development for CAN Am) were at the test. Suspension changes were made which slighlty improved the handling. Aluminium sheet was crudely added to the back of the car which dramatically improved the handling (3 seconds a lap better !). Dunlops were replaced with Firestones due to Wyer contract which also saved 2 seconds a lap. At last, a 917 that was actually driveable was created ! |
| 1969 - November 8th | Kyalami in South Africa. Piper & Attwood win this race with a modified tail section & a new front splitter (chassis 917.010) |
| 1970 - January 11th | Buenos Aires. Piper & Brian Redman enter, but retire. (chassis 917.010) |
| 1970 - Jan | 3 917Ks (Kurzheck or Short-tail) were delivered to JW Automotive. Preparations inc.
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| 1970 - Feb 1-2nd | Daytona - 2 Gulf 917s and a Porsche Salzburg car were entered for the race. The Salzburg team were actually the Austrian Porsche & VW concessionaire, wholly owned by Louise Piech - Ferdinands mother !!
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| 1970 - March | Sebring 12 Hours - JWA fitted the new un-tested front hubs to their cars - they failed during the race ! 2 Salzburg cars were entered but due to the preferential arrangement with JWA they did not run the new hubs.
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| 1970 - April | Brands Hatch - The weather was terrible with torrential rain through-out the race. Rodriguez & Elford both reveled in the poor conditions & drove for 5 1/2 hours out of the 6 3/4 total race. Elford tried the new F1 style air box over the engine cover that JWA had declined until after it had been tested. It was only used in practice as it was deemed to have little effect. |
| 1970 - April 25th | Monza 1,000 Km - Siffert (in chassis 917.023) uses the new 4.9Litre engine with 20Bhp extra and 10% more torque, but still only had a 4 speed box !! Used for qualifying and secured pole. Changed back to the regular 4.5Litre engine for the race after an oil leak was discovered. Elford took the 4.9L engine for the race.
The Gulf cars use new Girling brakes and not the standard ATE parts. Salzburg cars get the new brakes at the next race. |
| 1970 - May 17th | Spa - test version of the tail used which is upswept on chassis 917.0014 & 917.017 |
| 1970 - April 11-12 | Le Mans test weekend - New langheck version competes (chassis 917.041). |
| 1970 - June 13-14 | Le Mans - two revised langheck cars are entered (chassis 917.042 & 917.043) on which the plexi-glass covers over the engine have been removed. The JWA cars (chassis 917.016, 917.017 & 917.026) have winglets fitted between the two rear tail spoilers. |
| 1971 - April 4th | Brands Hatch - test air-box fitted over the injection trumpets on 917.020. whilst chassis 917.029 & 917.035 (Gulf cars) run the new 5Ltr engine. |
| 1971 - April 18th | Le Mans test weekend - the "Pink-Pig" makes its first appearance (917/20.001) as well as 917.052 which has a magnesium chassis, and 917.043 which has a amendments to its long-tail (faired in wheels, full width rear wing etc). |
| 1971 - April 25th | Monza - 3 917s run witht new twin vertical fins which subsequently become the standard for fast tracks (917.017, 917.020 & 917.034). |
| 1971 - May 2nd | Imola - Interserie starts with Can-Am spiders (chassis 917.007, 917.021 & 917.031) |
| 1971 - June 12-13th | Le Mans - "Pink Pig" returns for its only race appearance, whilst 917.042, 917.043 & 917.045 race but retire. The magnesium chassis'd 917.053 continus on to win the race ! |
| 1971 - June 27th | St Jovite - 917.028 has dramatically modified bodywork with increased downforce in the Cam Am series. |
