917 spin!

[Jeff Alton]

Just back form the vintage races in Mission this afternoon. Got to see a cool 917 chassis #004. This was the car Steve McQueen drove in Lemans. Cool car. So at luch it goes out for a few demo laps and there is a passenger in it (nice girl named Carrera of all things celebrating her 19th b-day). On the second lap we get to see a fabulous spin into the dirt in turn 1!!! How often are you going to get to see that!!! Car sounds amazing!







Cheers, Jeff

[Wayne 962]

Isn't that Seinfeld's car?

-Wayne

[Jeff Alton]

I was lead to believe this car is owned by John McCaw(sp) owner of )rca Bay Sports and Entertainmnet. He also used to own a CART team. I am sure the seatlle guys could chime in as that is where this car is stored and where he lives.....

First time I have seen it though.

Cheers, Jeff

[tiorio]

Drooling...

[sammyg2]

IIRC, that car was once owned by Otis Chandler, at least i remember seeing it in his museum until his wife divorced him and took everything he owned and most of what he didn't.

And they said O.J. was a bad guy..........

[rexav8r]

I remember hearing a short while back who DID own that car, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't Seinfeld. (Not that he doesn't own it NOW) I can't recall the name though....

[das908kind]

Originally posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts
Isn't that Seinfeld's car?

-Wayne

Seinfeld's car is #22, which did most of the Camera work (famous camera mounts in the front "trunk").

According to one of the team reps, the #20 car was the one he was seen in the most in the movie.

More pictures of the car and the event can be found here:



http://gallery.rennlist.com/gallery/BC-Historics-2005

[Rufblackbird]

very cool! Any pics of the spin and of the girl?

[makaio]

I would love to drive one of those!

[Jeff Alton]

I was not fast enough with my camera, but it looks like he geared down into first for turn 1 which is a tight 180 and when the clutch came out, the car went around. The girl was pretty cute.....

FUnny enough, on sunday someone else drove the demo laps. Seemed to have a little more control of the car and hung the tail out a few times when accelerating out of some corners. It also seemed to have enough power in second that when it got into the power band on a straight stretch the back end would step out!

Very cool indeed,

Jeff

[lateapex911]

Am I correct in observing that the car has no aircleaners???

Man, if I owned THAT car, and spun it into the dust and dirt....

[Jeff Alton]

You are correct! The dirt cloud was big enough for us to loose sight of it!! Gets out of the dirt pretty fast though!

Jeff

[tswaney]

Is that a "key" ignition in the last pic?

I know... I'm dumb!

[poorsha]

"Is that a "key" ignition in the last pic?"
If my memory is correct (this is pushing it) it used a standard VW key.

[das908kind]

Originally posted by poorsha
"Is that a "key" ignition in the last pic?"
If my memory is correct (this is pushing it) it used a standard VW key.

Notice the drilled holes? Porsche didn't miss anything when it came to saving weight!

908s even used the chasey-tubing as oil lines. I believe the 917 did too.

[Zeke]

Originally posted by poorsha
"Is that a "key" ignition in the last pic?"
If my memory is correct (this is pushing it) it used a standard VW key.

Somewhere in the archives here is a statement the all Porsche factory race cars had keys. True or false, I cannot say.

[Rufblackbird]

seeing the first pic kinda makes me wonder...how many blades does a flat fan have?

(not that it matters anyway, since it never spends time in traffic!)

[smarjoram]

I think the chassis tubes were pressurized to make it easier to detect cracks.

[Jamie79SC]

I'm pretty sure McCaw still owns that car. Our local PCA did a tech day at the garage in Redmond, WA where that and many other very cool Porsches live. They fired it up for us a couple of times - what a glorious sound.

[Noah930]

The PacWest team has been gone for awhile, so my memory might not be correct, but isn't McCaw's first name Bruce?