[Racerbvd]

Royalty - the Count Rossi street-legal Porsche 917K! It made a recent appearance in London. Not something you see everyday!

To the particulars. This example is Chassis 030 and it is still owned by Count Rossi's family estate. You may recognize the name, as Count Rossi was the heir to the Martini & Rossi Vermouth fortune. Yes, THAT "Martini"! Count Rossi approached Porsche in 1974 and requested a 917K be converted for street use. When your company has sponsored some of history's greatest cars and your brand/livery is world recognized, you can kinda ask for what you want, I suppose. So Porsche obliged and wheeled out 030.

Chassis 030 was originally built for the 1971 race season. It competed once at the Austrian 1000km at Österreichring, today The Red Bull Ring. It qualified 3rd, but suffered a suspension issue that sidelined the car. So 030 was sent back to the factory to spend the next year as a test mule for future component development. It was then mothballed until Rossi came along. They (Porsche) got to work. Not much needed to be done in the end. Removing aerodynamic fins and adding an exhaust to tame the thunderous sound that the 620hp 5.0L Flat 12 made. Rossi then requested Tan Leather Interior to be added for a bit of comfort. It was painted Silver and delivered.

Now, converting the car wasn't the issue. Getting it registered for street use was. Regulations in Europe were nearly impossible for the car to pass at the time. Neither Germany, nor France would work with him. So he turned to the US. Having the car registered in Alabama of all places. The catch? Alabama said they would register the car only if it never touched a single road in the state. That ended up working. With that new found road registration, getting it legalized in the Europe became much easier. The car was used on roads up until Rossi's passing in 2003. Since then, the car has remained with his Son and now wears plates from Texas, where it is legally registered. Though, it still remains in Europe.

One of the greatest cars ever built for the track, living its life on the streets. A true gem! #porsche #917k #countrossi #martini #supercar #performance #speed #instagood #germany 🇩🇪

Photo by @alexbabington