Originally Posted by GH85Carrera (Post 11665150)

I had a motel room next door to Vic Elford. I did not know that until I rode down the elevator to the talk he was to give to a group about his days of racing for the factory. He discussed driving the 917. Her said if they turned the boot to the levels the mechanics said to run it at they were 20 MPH faster down the Mulsanne Straight. If he needed to pass a few more cars to have a clear shot at the corner, he would crank up the boost, and blow past the competitors 40 MPH faster that the other cars.

They ran with a different headlight color and shape from the other cars so they could be seen in rear view mirrors. The rest of the pack learned not to pull out to pass if the 917 was coming through.
He said one time he was hurtling along at over 220 and some driver pulled out to pass a much slower car on the Mulsanne Straight and he had to go further over, with two wheels in the grass. In those days there was just grass, trees and no real barrier. He said a couple had set up a table and were drinking wine at the small table as he went past at well over 200 MPH with two wheels in the grass and just a few feet from them. He said I figured that was a bit to exciting for them because on the next lap they had moved back a lot.

Originally Posted by DaveE (Post 11665254)

First 917 I saw in person was Chuck Stoddard’s plain white car sitting amongst several street Porsches in the Stoddard showroom back in 1975-76. I can still remember how surprisingly tiny it seemed compared to the 911s and 914s of the era.

Originally Posted by svandamme (Post 11665257)

That probably was the Turbo 917 Vic talked about, And probably the story works out but it was just not at Le Mans but at another Interseries race track?

Originally Posted by javadog (Post 11665270)

That might be Chuck’s car but it’s not his 917.

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak (Post 11665263)

I think this is his car. Look at how big his head appears but it's because the car is so small.

I lived in Mentor, right next to Willoughby where his dealership was. I left plenty of window smears there on Sunday mornings planting my face on the glass to see what they had going on. That was very early 90's.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1649947709.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1649947738.jpg

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak (Post 11665280)

It's a little too 908-ish. Still tiny.

This is probably it. Thanks.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1649948759.jpg

Originally Posted by masraum (Post 11665283)

interesting, that looks like a 910 to me or maybe a '68 908 long tail.

Originally Posted by javadog (Post 11665364)

Pretty sure that’s a 907.

Originally Posted by masraum (Post 11665379)

That would explain the taillight differences between the pics and the others that I mentioned. It's not, I don't think a 906, so it's got to be 907-910. I believe you that it's a 907.

Originally Posted by pwd72s (Post 11665386)

Originally Posted by javadog (Post 11665211)

Anybody interested in a 917 book should probably start with Peter Morgan’s book, it’s decent value for the money. Gordon Wingrove’s book is better, but more money.

Originally Posted by masraum (Post 11665390)

Since it's a collectors item, you might want an upgrade to protect the front end.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/HSoAA...VFm/s-l400.jpg

Originally Posted by svandamme (Post 11665587)

that's not to protect the stang, it's a stang aero package.. To send the crowd flying through the aero

Originally Posted by svandamme (Post 11665587)

That's not to protect the Stang, it's a Stang Aero package.. to send the crowd flying through the aero

Originally Posted by URY914 (Post 11665652)

907 and 908's are the same in coupe form. Engines differ. And open cars differ greatly.

Originally Posted by URY914 (Post 11665652)

907 and 908's are the same in coupe form. Engines differ. And open cars differ greatly.

Originally Posted by javadog (Post 11665688)

This is a 907. Check out the shape of the removable part of the bodywork and compare it to Chuck’s car. That piece was a different shape on a 908.

Tires were evolving a lot each year, I think the 908 started getting wider bodywork pretty quickly.

I will be happy owning either, although you could give me a 910 and I wouldn’t *****.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1649966460.jpg

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr (Post 11665965)

Love the old Porsche sports racing cars, so much so my leaving present when I left the Ferrari race team was two books on Porsche racing cars :D

I bumped into an old work colleague at Classic Le Mans years ago who was looking after a Gulf 917 and 908

Had a good look around both, he described the difference between the two in one sentence

917 is built with titanium bolts but the 908 is built with titanium bolts that had a hole drilled down the centre :cool:

My all time favourite is the 909 BergSpyder, the uber-lightweight hill climb car, for me the perfect example of lightweight race car design and engineering

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1649980518.jpg

Wish I could find a book about it as well written as the Wingrove 917 book :(

Originally Posted by svandamme (Post 11665155)

yeah nah, no such thing.
Turbos was Canam 917/30
And I don't think they had cockpit boost control either ..

Also.. By the time of the 917...pretty sure the Mulsanne straight most definately had armco all the way, they did in 1969
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=255156022351768

Originally Posted by 21blackjack JR (Post 11667088)

Originally Posted by javadog (Post 11665995)

There’s surprisingly little information about the 909. There have been a few, very few, good books in the last 10 years about some of the plastic Porsches of the late 60s, certainly not enough in my opinion. That’s one legacy of the 917, it overshadowed everything that came before it.

Lots of the most fascinating Porsches have received woefully inadequate coverage in the press.

Hill climbs are almost nonexistent the US, that’s one thing Europe had in spades that I wish we could have had more of.