Guide: Mercedes-Benz O317 Porsche Transporters
Background
By the late 1960s, Porsche were spending considerably more on racing than they had done a decade earlier.
To ease logistics and reflect the firm’s status as a top flight competitor, three brand new Mercedes-Benz O317 transporters were commissioned in late 1966. They would replace Porsche’s fleet of ageing open top MAN 635s.
The three rolling chassis were sent one after the other to Stuttgart-based coachbuilder, Robert Schenk. Here they were equipped with everything required to move cars and spares from race to race.
Whereas most O317s were used as buses, the transporters Robert Schenk built for Porsche had additional overhead storage to enable double stacking of low slung racers.
Only minor differences existed between the trio of handsome new trucks, all of which were originally painted dark red with silver stripes and dark grey lower body sections. A silver Porsche script was emblazoned down each flank and an enormous company logo was added to the front of the roof.
S YZ 32
The first O317 was delivered in 1967.
Registered S YZ 32 it spent the 1967, 1968 and 1969 seasons with Porsche before being loaned to John Wyer Automotive Engineering in England. John Wyer managed the works 917 programme for Porsche between 1970 and 1971 and, for these two seasons, S YZ 32 was repainted pale blue and orange to reflect the colours of his backer, Gulf Oil.
It was then sold to BMW for 1972 and repainted the BMW Motorsport colours of white with red and blue stripes. S YZ 32 remained in this configuration until 1981 when it passed into the ownership of Helmut Marko whose privateer team campaigned a BMW M1 that season.
S YZ 32 was scrapped sometime later in the decade.
S C 9003
The second O317 was delivered in 1968.
This transporter was registered S C 9003 and was retained by Porsche until 1983.
In addition to its original red, silver and dark grey colour scheme, S C 9003 variously appeared in two different Martini liveries (white and silver).
When David Thieme made Porsche an offer they couldn’t refuse in 1979, S C 9003 was repainted white, blue and red to reflect backing from his oil trading company, Essex Petroleum.
The early 1980s saw it re-liveried in the colours of Rothmans cigarettes (the team’s title sponsor for much of the 1980s).
In 1983, this transporter was sold to Kerry Morse and later to Kevin Jeanette of Gunnar Racing.
It was purchased from Jeanette by Roald Goethe who had assembled a large number of ex-Gulf racing cars (the ROFGO collection). Goethe had S C 9003 restored in Gulf colours.
SM 2187
Last of Porsche’s three O317 transporters was SM 2187.
Delivered in 1969, it too originally served in Porsches red, silver and dark grey livery before being repainted in the colours of Martini, Essex and Rothmans.
Like S C 9003, it was sold to Kerry Morse in 1983.
Morse then traded it to collector Gerry Sutterfield and, from Sutterfield, it wound up in the collection of Brumos Porsche in Jacksonville, Florida.
Brumos had the transporter restored to its original factory colour scheme.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Supercar Nostalgia & The Brumos Collection - https://www.thebrumoscollection.com/
