RE: Porsche 917K: You Know You Want To

RE: Porsche 917K: You Know You Want To

Tuesday 21st February 2017

Porsche 917K: You Know You Want To

Well if everybody on PH was willing to chip in a few pounds...



There are certain cars in the history of sportscar and Le Mans racing that are fondly remembered as legends: the Ford GT40, the early Bentleys, the Jaguar D-Type and probably one of the 21st century Audis now too.


Undoubtedly too the Porsche 917 has to feature in the list. Remember the first victory of a 917 at Le Mans was in 1970, just after the GT40's final win. In its final evolution as a Can-Am car, the 917/30 was probably the most powerful sportscar racer ever. There were Longtails, Pink Pigs, 917Ks and an a place in sportscar history forever as one of the greats.

So when one comes up for sale on PH it's well worth talking about. As you can see it's perhaps as iconic as 917s get in terms of spec too, as a Gulf liveried short tail. And, well, there's quite a story behind this particular car.

The ad from Canepa Design will furnish you with full details, but essentially as an early car from 1969 this was the first 917 to complete a full race distance. Indeed 917-004 was driven to eighth place at the 1969 Nurburgring 1000KM by David Piper and Frank Gardner - a significant event in 917 history. But then in 1970, updated to 917K spec and being driven by Jo Siffert and Brian Redman, it was involved in a crash at Brands Hatch. With the need to get another race car ready chassis 004 was replaced by chassis 017; the chassis tag for 004 was welded onto 017 and the original crashed car - which would become 017 - was eventually repaired.


The 917 then spent 30 years in Australia, a brief period in the UK and then reached Canepa in 2011. Since then the aim has been to return it to the spec of that Brands Hatch race in 1970: it's up to 5.0-litres with a Crosthwaite & Gardner crank, new Mahle pistons and a rebuilt gearbox. Indeed Canepa says that a "cadre of specialty parts suppliers" have been used, which must be one of the nicest phrases ever used in a car advert. No expense or detail has been spared in bringing this 917 back to its best, the end result as stunning as that suggests.

Look at the spec, too: 630hp at 8,300rpm, 434lb ft at 6,500rpm, a four-speed manual and a dry weight of 800kg. Eight hundred kilos! This then begs the question of just what you would do with a Porsche 917K... As the sportscar world moves further and further away from this style of car, demand will surely only increase and the temptation would be to store it. But then this car has been in collections of one form or another since 1975; with the car's meticulous and time consuming restoration now complete, surely it would only be only to use it for competition?

Of course that's a dilemma that's only going to be faced by a very, very select few, but what an opportunity this presents for the extremely wealthy. With the car already in California it could easily be prepped for the Monterey auto week and a run out at Laguna Seca...


PORSCHE 917K
Price
: POA
Why you should: That Porsche, that livery, that history
Why you shouldn't: Might be a tad pricey

See the original advert here, with the pics from this listing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author
Discussion

Evilex

Original Poster:

512 posts

103 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
quotequote all
Ah... things of beauty. What would I do with one of these? Just stand and look at it all day!

morgs_

1,663 posts

186 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
quotequote all
I've just had to click I agree to the new forum rules and yet here is PH, posting porn.

Double standards if you ask me.

Possibly my favourite car ever.

kambites

67,460 posts

220 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
quotequote all
I wouldn't want it if I couldn't afford to race it. I don't like seeing cars like this sitting unused in a garage/museum somewhere.

Hopefully whoever buys it, we'll see it out and about at classic enduring racing events.

Edited by kambites on Tuesday 21st February 15:47

VanquishRider

496 posts

151 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
quotequote all
Oh wow, how beautiful can one thing be? If only I had the time, space, money and skill.

Davey S2

13,073 posts

253 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
quotequote all
Don't need to race it but it should certainly be used / displayed and this would get you in anywhere - Goodwood, Le Mans classic, Silverstone Classic etc.

SirSquidalot

4,039 posts

164 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
quotequote all
When i win the lottery, i'll have one and convert it to be a road car!

Dave Hedgehog

14,541 posts

203 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
quotequote all
there's a great series on utoob of them restoring one of these, and then they interview one of the drivers


likesachange

2,630 posts

193 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
quotequote all
SirSquidalot said:
When i win the lottery, i'll have one and convert it to be a road car!
I have a feeling you may need a few lottery wins?!

Feirny

2,500 posts

146 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
quotequote all
I've got a great illustrated framed poster of this for my spare room wall.

ChilliWhizz

11,990 posts

160 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
quotequote all
My favourite ever race car...

And there was this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaTW7-uOrq4

rtz62

3,340 posts

154 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
quotequote all
Love the car, possibly the most enigmatic race car ever.
But it really gets my goat, 'POA'
Why? So that Canopener Desire can answer the phone and say "Its POA Sir. Whats that? You'll offer us $6m? (thinks for a few seconds, then realises they can push the price up some more Well sir, thats a mighty fine OPENING offer, but we were thinking more in the line of $7.5m...."
As i repeatedly say, i wouldn't allow any advert on here, or elsewhere, that didn't giver a definite price...

trickywoo

11,701 posts

229 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
quotequote all
likesachange said:
SirSquidalot said:
When i win the lottery, i'll have one and convert it to be a road car!
I have a feeling you may need a few lottery wins?!
Itd make a big dent in even a multi rollover Euromillions jackpot.

Better off all round, for the car too, going for a Dauer 962.

RDMcG

19,093 posts

206 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
quotequote all
The strange thing about the 917 is how small it really is. When you see it on a race video or in pics it appears to be a massive car ( at least to me) and then you discover its about the size of a Boxster..

just with perfect proportions.

jamespink

1,218 posts

203 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
quotequote all
Good grief... That is the most gorgeous combination of shape and livery ever... Ever!cloud9

ChilliWhizz

11,990 posts

160 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
quotequote all
There was one at Snetterton a couple of years ago... I may have dribbled on it...

Bright Halo

2,950 posts

234 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
quotequote all
If I was a multimillionaire I would buy this and take it to every track day I could just so as many people as possible got to see and hear it in action.
Cars are just material things that ultimately mean nothing but this really does blur the boundaries.

Just Wow!

P5BNij

15,764 posts

105 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
quotequote all
RDMcG said:
The strange thing about the 917 is how small it really is. When you see it on a race video or in pics it appears to be a massive car ( at least to me) and then you discover its about the size of a Boxster..

just with perfect proportions.
I stood up close to one of them at Stoneleigh a few years ago and this was the first thing that struck me about it. Wonderfully evocative machine!

P5BNij

15,764 posts

105 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
quotequote all
I love the way threads like this ignite the passion.... if I may be so bold gents...





























Davey S2

13,073 posts

253 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
quotequote all
SirSquidalot said:
When i win the lottery, i'll have one and convert it to be a road car!
Why? It would be an utterly st road car and you'd implode the value of it as a race car.

belleair302

6,835 posts

206 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
quotequote all
Am sure there are certain circuits one could drive this on properly without noise restrictions and really learn about handling.