Originally Posted by Jeff Hail (Post 3405122)

Thanks Chris!


The history of the 917 at the end of its career.

Around the beginning of the OPEC crisis (remember gas lines) rules were imposed on Can Am race cars for consumption in MPG (who ever heard of such thing) which replaced displacement limitations of Championship of Makes (Prototypes). This would kill the 917 at the high of its career in both forms of classification.

The unofficial story:

Is the 917 in its final variant Model 30 was so dominant no other cars fielded against it were even competitive. The only way another car would win is if catastrophic failure or crash caused a DNF. If another car took 1st the 917 took 2nd and 3rd. Pretty Impressive. So the powers that be changed the rules ultimately ending the 917's racing career.

Here is the official story:

Porsche's first foray into the Can-Am was not by design but by the luck of the calendar. Beginning in 1969, Watkins Glen held a combined racing weekend for the World Championship of Makes (endurance racing sportscars) and the Can-Am. A 6-hour endurance race would be held on Saturday and a Can-Am on Sunday. The "prototype" sportscars that ran in the endurance were legal (though under-powered) to run in the Can-Am. So as long as the teams were there, they would enter the Can-Am. (Hey, the money was good.) Jo Siffert drove a factory entered Porsche 908 Spyder to a sixth place finish. Another Porsche driver, Tony Dean, who entered his own car, became a Can-Am regular with his 908 Spyder. (Like I said, the money was good.)

Later in the year, Siffert returned with a Porsche 917PA, an open topped (Spyder) version of the recently developed 917 endurance racer. The 917 had a complex aluminum-tube space frame chassis and was powered by an air cooled, 4.5-liter flat-12 engine. It was heavy and under-powered compared to the 7-liter Chevys prevalent in the Can-Am. Siffert's best finish was a third, but he did finish fourth in the Can-Am championship after only racing two thirds of the season.

In 1970, Siffert again drove a factory entered endurance Porsche in the Watkins Glen Can-Am. This time he scored an amazing second place finish in a 917K coupe. The only Porsche regular in the Can-Am, however, was Dean in his little 3-liter 908. It may not have been fast, but it was reliable. This was proven at Road Atlanta when he gave Porsche their first Can-Am victory. This win broke Team McLaren's 19 race win streak. Dean finished sixth in the championship.

There were three Porsches regularly driven in the 1971 Can-Am -- the 908 of Frank Matich, the 917PA (ex-Siffert car) entered by Vasek Polak for Milt Minter, and the 917/10 of Jo Siffert. The endurance Porsches also put in their appearance at Watkins Glen (for the last time), but the best finisher was Gijs van Lennep in ninth.

Siffert's 917/10 had the same wheelbase as the 971PA, but the body was shorter and had fins on each side of the rear bodywork. Engine size was 5- liters when introduced (a third of the way into the season), but up to 5.4-liters by the end of the season. Just before its first race, Siffert signed a sponsorship contract with STP. They couldn't come up with any day-glo red paint (STP's racing colors) in time to paint the car for the race, but they did find contact paper in the proper color with which to cover the car.

Siffert scored several top-5 finishes, including two seconds, to finish fourth in the championship. Unfortunately, he was killed in a Formula One race before the season ended. Minter finished sixth in the championship.

1972 saw the face of the Can-Am change with the introduction of Porsche's new 917/10K. Fitted with twin-turbocharged, 5-liter flat-12 engines, the factory supported, L&M cigarette sponsored, Roger Penske prepared 917/10Ks of Mark Donohue and George Follmer won six of nine races. Donohue missed four races because of injuries suffered in a testing accident, so Follmer was brought in as a substitute driver. After Donohue returned, Penske entered cars for both drivers. Follmer accounted for five of the six Porsche wins and was rewarded with the Can-Am championship. Several other drivers raced 917PAs or 917/10s, but not of the configuration of the Penske cars.

Had the 5-liter turbocharged flat-12 not worked out, Porsche had built a normally aspirated 7.2-liter flat-16 motor. Though tested, it was never raced. It was never needed, as the turbo motors produced 1000 hp on the dyno and 900 hp in race trim.

The body of the 917/10K was slab-sided with a wing mounted between fins on the rear bodywork. The bodywork directly in front of the front wheels, was concave, instead of the normal convex shape, to help produce downforce. The 917/10K could go from 0-60 mph in 2.1 seconds, 0-100 mph in 3.9 seconds, and 0-200 mph in 13.4 seconds! Their race performance was so awesome that they were called the Porsche "Panzers".

In 1973, Porsche and Penske upped the ante. Donohue's 917/30 had streamlined bodywork and a new 5.4-liter, twin turbocharged, flat-12 motor that produced 810 ft-lb of torque and 1100 hp in race trim (and had seen 1500 hp on the dyno). This was the most powerful road racing car until the turbocharged F1 racers of the mid-1980s. Donohue called the 917/30 "a monument to my career as an engineer and driver."

Porsche won all eight races in 1973. Charlie Kemp and George Follmer won the first two races in 917/10Ks before Donohue and the 917/30 got their act together and won six in a row and the championship. This was the first time that anyone had won six straight Can-Am races.

For 1974, the Sports Car Club of America, partially because of the OPEC oil crisis and partially because of the dominance of the turbocharged Porsche engines, introduced a fuel consumption formula of three miles per gallon. Porsche pulled out of the Can-Am. The only Porsche regulars during the five race season were a couple of old 908s.

The 917/30 made one appearance in 1974, at the Mid-Ohio Can-Am. Reasons varied from the official story that this was the track at which it got the best gas mileage, to a rumor that the promoters would not rigidly enforce the gas mileage rules in an effort to increase interest in the dying series. Brian Redman started the car on pole but finished second.

The 917/30 made one last run before being retired to a museum and occasional historic racing duty. On August 9, 1975, Donohue drove it at the Talladega superspeedway to a World Closed Course Speed Record of 221.120 mph. It had run 250 mph on the straights.

Originally Posted by Banning (Post 3405629)

...Thanks in large part due to this thread, there will soon be big changes in my Garage....

Originally Posted by porcupine911 (Post 3405886)

can you give us a hint?

Originally Posted by porcupine911 (Post 3405160)

jeff -

i've been looking for a good book on the 917. any comment on this one?

Amazon.com - Porsche 917: The Winning Formula

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/...VL._AA240_.jpg

thanks.

Originally Posted by Pat_in_L.A. (Post 3405965)

He's either buying a 917, another truck, or a primered Corvette!

Originally Posted by Jeff Hail (Post 3406208)

Pretty funny Pat. Good one!

No- Chris is going the Pyle route....."surprise, surprise, surprise".

If you check the photo taken of his 911 in his livingroom another special vehicle is visible in the background behind the kitchen table. It's the the subject of a completely new thread.

"What ever happened to the Mulholland Elsinore 50"?

Originally Posted by Banning (Post 3407004)

The first new engine developed for the Type 695(911), was a six cylinder motor with twin cooling fans. Very unique even by todays standards.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1186028806.jpg

Originally Posted by Jeff Hail (Post 3407037)

The 914 was replaced in the lineup by the 924 which we will not discuss here (ever).

Originally Posted by Jeff Hail (Post 3407037)

Since we are off on a Porsche tangent today and Chris has been courteous to share some rare Porsche's I might as well chime in:

Another rare (really really rare P-Car) is the 914/8. What makes this car so special? How about a 908 3.0 Liter Flat 8 stuffed in the mid-section.
Funny thing about the 914. The factory really didnt push its potential being it was a joint venture between VW and Porsche (body by Karmann). It had more important interests at the time namely developement of the 911. Like all manufacturers they limit the lessor models as to not compete with its flagships.

Purest's never excepted the 914 as a real Porsche. The fact is a 914/6 of the same year as the 911 , both with 2.0 engines will out excellerate, out brake, and handle better than its brethren with the correct setup. Why? Because its mass is in the middle not the rear and its 400 pounds lighter. Then we have the 916GT which came with either the 2.4 or 2.7 liter motor from the Carrera. Only 11 prototypes of the 916GT were built.

The 914 was replaced in the lineup by the 924 which we will not discuss here (ever).

Originally Posted by TooTall (Post 3407828)

Here I go on vacation for a week and the discussion takes a left turn to 917s! I like 917s! I really really really like 917s!
http://img399.imageshack.us/img399/8...amilyedks0.jpg

From Monterey a couple of years ago.

Cheers,
Kurt O.

Originally Posted by Banning (Post 3406882)

Peter Gregg produced this modified tail for his RSR after IMSA banned the original long tail. It was tested at Daytona in October 1975 but never raced with this configuration.

Radu, what do you think of this tail?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1186022688.jpg

Originally Posted by gostraight (Post 3408052)

haha... Chris, that looks like the love child of your RSR and your Testarossa. We now know what goes on in that garage late @ night. Do you ever hear funny noises?:D

Originally Posted by slodave (Post 3408732)

Chirs B. and Jane, Thanks for bringing the subs and drinks! It's nice to get outside and hang out for awhile. I'm surprised the cops did not ask us to leave. It was well past 9 when they showed up, but who cares, it's nice not having to rush.

Originally Posted by porcupine911 (Post 3409708)

chris, thanks from me as well!
the view of the valley from dirt mul last night was stunning.

by the way, i got a close look at a genuine 935 today. :D

Originally Posted by Banning (Post 3409876)

...How did you get a close look at a 935? Sounds really fun. By the way Chris, last night when I waived you on to pass me, I was amazed at how your car just seemed to squat, go, and take those asphalt whoop-de-doos just like a championship go-cart. I'm still seeing that image in my head repeatedly. What a fun car you have. Just goes to show again that there is no substitute for a Porsche.