VIN: the John Woolfe Porsche 917 chassis 005
History of chassis 005
Chassis 005 was the Porsche 917 sold to British privateer, John Woolfe, who, together with his business partner, Arnold Burton, ran John Woolfe Racing, a major UK retailer of high performance automotive parts.
Between 1959 and 1962, John Woolfe had raced a Lola Mk1 and TVR Grantura after which he took time out from the sport to develop his business.
Woolfe returned to motor racing in 1967 and purchased a used seven-litre Cobra from John Tojeiro.
For the 1968 season, Woolfe acquired a Lola T70 Mk3 GT and a Chevron B12.
A McLaren M6B and a B-spec. T70 GT followed for 1969. Then, when Porsche unexpectedly unveiled the 917 at the Geneva Motor Show, Woolfe was the first customer to put his name down.
John Woolfe wanted to drive his 917 at the 1969 Le Mans 24 Hours and 005 was delivered to the circuit between practice and the race. Having arrived in a plain white livery, Woolfe’s signature blue and yellow stripes were added at the track where he was to drive with Digby Martland.
Practice was not without incident.
Woolfe blew the engine when he grabbed first instead of third but Porsche were able to fit a replacement.
Meanwhile, after just two laps in the car, Martland struck a crash barrier coming onto the Mulsanne Straight and, although the damage was slight, he conceded the 917 was too much of a handful and wisely told John Woolfe he didn’t want to drive it.
Porsche supplied Herbert Linge to co-drive and Rolf Stommelen qualified the car ninth.
Woolfe decided to drive the opening stint himself.
He dashed across the track, jumped into 005 and took off at great speed without fastening his seatbelt.
Swept along by faster drivers, Woolfe lost the 917 on the opening lap coming over the hump through the kink before Maison Blanche.
Getting two wheels on the grass at over 150mph, the car slid wide and Woolfe couldn’t catch it.
The 917 hit the guard rail, flipped onto its roof and continued down the road before breaking in two and catching fire.
The track was completely blocked with burning wreckage.
Poor John Woolfe was thrown from the car and died in the helicopter as he was rushed to hospital.
In the late 1980s, Willi Kauhsen purchased a pair of accident damaged 956s and a large quantity of 917 spares direct from Porsche. Later, he acquired 005’s VIN plate from Woolfe’s estate and assembled an exact reproduction of the infamous machine.
Notable History
21/04/1969 Factory homologation presentation
Sold to John Woolfe, England (John Woolfe Racing)
14-15/06/1969 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (J. Woolfe / H. Linge) DNF (#10)
Destroyed in Woolfe’s fatal opening lap accident
VIN plate 005 later sold by Woolfe’s family to Willi Kauhsen, Germany
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Porsche - https://www.porsche.com
