[URY914]

Alright, here ya go. I got it off another forum...

The first Porsche 917/10 - Chassis number 001 with a normally aspirated engine was built at the Porsche Works race car factory - Weissach. The first drivers of 001 were none other than Mark Donohue, Jackie Ickx and Willi Kauhsen himself. Under guidance from Weissach engineers the car was tested and developed over a 12 month period with is final configuration being the 4.5 litre twin turbo 1000 plus bhp 12 cylinder engine as fitted today. The car at this stage in its life is as well documented as it is through time with a number of images and much written about this car throughout its development.

In 1972 the car started its racing career at the hands of the great Kauhsen - coming in 2nd place at Hockenheim on the car's first outing.

Between October 1972 and September 1974 Porsche 917-10 - 001 raced 19 times driven by Kauhsen, and both the Fittipaldi brothers - Emerson and Wilson at events in both Europe and the USA. Such great circuits as Laguna Seca - Nurburgring - Imola - Riverside - and Hockenheim all feature in the history of this legend.

An interesting aside to the history of 001 was after winning the 1973 Nurburgring event Kauhsen was visited by the West German Secret Service with a very strange request to take a mystery guest around the Nurburgring circuit in the now famous "Yellow Car". The following morning the 'Ring' was carpeted with a blanket of thick wet snow but when the mystery guest turned out to be none other than the President of the Federal Republic who was a great fan of Kauhsen and the Yellow Car, the lap of the 'Ring' had to proceed.

So - in 6cms of snow, on slicks followed by a number of secret police in Mercedes saloons and the German army in trucks Kauhsen and the President of Western Germany, Gustav Heinemann, proceeded on a lap of the famous Nurburgring, at least one army truck overturned, several police cars left the track but Kauhsen and the President returned unscathed!!

What is beyond remarkable and indeed priceless is that this machine has remained in Kauhsen's ownership until now and is only being offered for sale due to other plans. There is surely no other one private owner from new 917 with such an unquestioned originality and provenance on Earth!

After 1974 the car remained in storage with the Kauhsen family and has never changed hands. As a result the Yellow Car has featured on German television and indeed a large limited edition model was launched to celebrate the anniversary of the win at the Nurburging.

In 1998 and 1999 it was decided to overhaul the car completely in order to take advantage on the ever growing number of events to which Kauhsen and the Yellow car were being invited so to that end former Weissach mechanics - Gustav Nietsche and Harro Deutscher with much help from manager of the Porsche Museum Klaus Bischof who actually ran the Yellow Car between 1972 and 1974.

Subsequent to the restoration of this fantastic original race car it has been used in commemorative and historic events that have included the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2001 and 2003, The Nurburgring Anniversary, the 40 years celebration at Daytona Speedway in April 2004 and the Porsche Festival at Brands Hatch in July 2005.