VIN: the Gulf Racing Porsche 917 chassis 017
History of chassis 017
Chassis 017 was one of the 917s loosely built up for the FIA homologation inspection on April 21st 1969 and then dismantled to be properly assembled at a later date.
For the 1970 and 1971 seasons, it formed part of the Gulf Oil-backed John Wyer Automotive Engineering squad.
After much success, including back-to-back Le Mans wins with the Ford GT40 in 1968 and 1969, Porsche had contracted John Wyer’s team to run works 917s in 1970 and 1971.
017 was sent to England in late April of 1970 to replace chassis 004 which had been damaged at the Brands Hatch 1000km.
Chassis 004 was repairable but, with such a tight schedule and an abundance of bare chassis sitting in Germany, the decision was made to assemble a new car. However, as the customs documentation required to move a new car around could take a couple of months to process, Wyer’s team grafted the VIN plate from 004 onto 017.
Chassis 017 subsequently raced under the identity of 004.
017’s first competitive outing came at the Spa 1000km in mid May. In the hands of Pedro Rodriguez and Leo Kinnunen, it qualified on pole but retired from the race after 44 laps with a seized gearbox while lying second.
It next appeared at the Le Mans 24 Hours where John Wyer elected not to run the unproven long tailed 917s in favour of three Kurzhecks with a host of modifications devised specially for the race.
Although a works Salzburg entry secured Porsche’s first overall win at Le Mans, all three Gulf examples failed to finish.
017 was driven by Jo Siffert and Brian Redman. They qualified third but were forced to retire while holding an enormous seven-lap lead. Siffert dropped out at 2am on Sunday morning after he over-revved the engine.
017 played no further part in the 1970 campaign.
It returned for 1971 freshly rebuilt with all the latest bells and whistles. That year, it appeared in three races: the Daytona 24 Hours, Monza 1000km and Zeltweg 1000km.
At Daytona, 017 was driven by Jo Siffert and Derek Bell. They qualified fourth but retired after 113 laps when the engine dumped its oil while exiting the pits.
Siffert and Bell were back in 017 for the Monza 1000km on April 24th. Despite having been eclipsed in qualifying (017 started seventh and the sister car fifth), the race yielded a copybook victory for JWAE; Rodriguez / Oliver took the win and finished three laps ahead of runners up Siffert / Bell.
017’s final race in period was at the Zeltweg 1000km. By this time, the car had been equipped with a full five-litre engine in addition to the myriad updates that were routinely introduced on a race-by-race basis.
Siffert and Bell were once again at the wheel and qualified fourth for the Austrian event. Unfortunately, they went out at quarter distance with a broken clutch.
At the end of the 1971 season, chassis 017 returned to Porsche.
In 1975, it was sold to the Australian Porsche importer, Alan Hamilton.
Three years later, Hamilton sold the car to his friend and fellow racing driver, Pat Burke. Burke in turn passed the car on to David Piper in 1990.
Notable History
Porsche System Engineering
21/04/1969 factory homologation presentation
John Wyer Automotive Engineering / Gulf Racing
4.9-litre engine
17/05/1970 WSC Spa 1000km (P. Rodriguez / L. Kinnunen) DNF (#25)
14/06/1970 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (J. Siffert / B. Redman) DNF (#20)
31/01/1971 WSC Daytona 24 Hours (J. Siffert / D. Bell) DNF engine (#1)
25/04/1971 WSC Monza 1000km (J. Siffert / D. Bell) 2nd oa, 2nd S5.0 class (#1)
5.0-litre engine
27/06/1971 WSC Zeltweg 1000km (J. Siffert / D. Bell) DNF clutch (#15) q 4
Returned to Porsche
1975 sold to Alan Hamilton, Australia
1978 sold to Pat Burke, Australia
1990 sold to David Piper, England
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Porsche - https://www.porsche.com
