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Registered
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 299
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Count Rossi's 917--what's the lowest it was advertised for?
Before the recent stories on the car I only knew a German count had managed to register a real 917 in Alabama. Now I found out a little more on the internet:
After the 1970 season Porsche 917-021 was dismantled, the engine and suspension were installed in a Porsche 917 Spyder which would be used in racing the following year. The bodywork and chassis were sold to a Porsche specialist in Karlsruhe, southern Germany (anybody know who that was, and what was paid?) Then three years later bought by Joachim Grossman, a carpenter and restaurant owner, who wanted to build a road-going Porsche 917. He stripped the body and repainted it white, turn lights were installed, and the original lightweight plexiglass replaced with glass. The interior was treated to white leather seats and blue floor mats bearing the car’s designation “917”. An engine was bought from Willi Kauhsen, who had driven the famous Porsche 917/20 “Pink Pig” at Le Mans. Furthermore a gearbox and suspension was installed, and a more silent exhaust was fitted. Dunlop provided new tires suitable for road use, those at the rear measured almost an impressive 50 cm in width. Joachim Grossman’s received an official manufacturers plate from Porsche, which meant the Stuttgart-based company acknowledged his modified 917 as a real Porsche. Eventually last hurdle was taken in June 1977 when the car passed the mandatory roadworthiness test in Germany and received a license plate bearing “CW-K 917″. The Porsche 917 was now ready to hit the Autobahn! The street-legal 917 had a dry weight of 970 kg and according to official documents the detuned flat-twelve engine provided 550 horsepower at 7,500 rpm. The top speed of the car was 320 km/h. It was once said the two street-legal 917s were the fastest road-going cars in the world until the arrival of the Ferrari F40 in 1987. By that time Grossman had already sold his Porsche to a collector in Florida, (Anybody know what he advertised it for or what was paid for it and who was the buyer?) It must have been sold again because I understand it is now back to racing specs and vintage racing, from a base in Belgium . The only contradiction I have from memory is that it wasn't legal on German roads hence the U.S. plate but maybe that was an additional plate in case he ever brought it to the U.S. References: Porsche 917-021 – The Fabulous Story by Jacques Breuer & Raymond Collignon QV500.com – Porsche 917 Part 1: 917K ‘Straße’ Last edited by HistoryBuff; 06-20-2015 at 03:47 PM.. Reason: spelling |
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