VIN: the Alex Soler-Roig Porsche 917 chassis 018
History of chassis 018
Between 1969 and 1971, only a handful of Porsche 917s were sold to privateers.
Chassis 018 was one such car. It was acquired for the 1970 season by Alex Soler-Roig of Barcelona.
Soler-Roig was an experienced driver who had began his career in 1958 with a Porsche 356. The son of a wealthy Catalan surgeon, he went on to occasionally race and rally a variety of Porsches over the next few years.
Soler-Roig became more serious about motor sport in 1967 when a Porsche 906, a 910 and a 911 R were campaigned under the Escuderia Nacional banner. That year he most notably won the Madrid Grand Prix driving his Porsche 906.
For 1968, Soler-Roig added a Porsche 907 to the fleet and had his first outing at the Le Mans 24 Hours. A limited number of sports car outings were complemented by a series of Formula 2 races in a Lola T100.
A Porsche 908/02 was purchased for the 1969 season which turned out to be Soler-Roig’s busiest yet. He again won several races to include the Jarama 6 Hours for which he was partnered by Jochen Rindt.
In addition to his acquisition of chassis 018 for 1970, Soler-Roig’s impressive performances over the past couple of years saw him bag a drive for Alpina in the European Touring Car Championship. He also contested several Formula 1 races with a privateer Lotus 49C and 72C.
Soler-Roig won five of the six races he entered with the 917 in 1970 on his way to securing that year’s Spanish Sportscar Championship title.
In 1971, chassis 018 made its one and only appearance at international level. Soler-Roig was expected to drive the car in the Buenos Aires 1000km World Championship race with Carlos Reutemann. However, when Emerson Fittipaldi wrote off his Alfa Romeo 33/3 in practice, Soler-Roig stood down and Fittipaldi drove the Porsche with Reutemann instead.
Fittipaldi and Reutemann qualified eleventh. They retired approaching one third distance with clutch problems. Six laps earlier, Scuderia Ferrari driver, Ignazio Giunti, had been killed in a fiery accident involving the Matra of Jean-Pierre Beltoise.
Following the race in Argentina, chassis 018 was retired from active duty. Soler Roig instead concentrated on his F1 and ETCC commitments with March and Ford respectively.
He retired from racing at the end of 1972 to take over the family clinic.
Alex Soler-Roig retained his 917 until 1975 at which point it was sold to American Porsche collector, Chuck Stoddard of Ohio.
Stoddard has retained the car ever since.
Notable History
White
Sold to Alex Soler-Roig (Escuderia Nacional), Barcelona
01/03/1970 IND Jarama Copa Alfil (A. Soler-Roig) 1st oa, 1st Gr.5 class (#70)
22/03/1970 ESP Jarama (A. Soler-Roig) 1st oa (#1)
03/05/1970 ESP Jarama Trofeo Primavera (A. Soler-Roig) 1st oa, 1st Gr.5 class (#70)
31/05/1970 ESP Jarama Trofeo por Regiones (A. Soler-Roig) 1st oa (#81)
06/09/1970 ESP Alcaniz (A. Soler-Roig) 1st oa (#1)
18/10/1970 ESP Jarama (A. Soler-Roig) ran (#1)
10/01/1971 WSC Buenos Aires 1000km (E. Fittipaldi / C. Reutemann) DNF (#28)
1975 sold to Chuck Stoddard, Ohio
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: unattributed
