VIN: the Porsche Salzburg / Martini Racing Porsche 917 chassis 019
History of chassis 019
Although Porsche contracted John Wyer’s Gulf-backed team to handle the racing side of things with the 917 for 1970 and 1971, Ferdinand Porsche’s grandson, Ferdinand Piech (who had been a key player in the car’s development) still wanted to compete.
Piech was loaned four cars which would run under the Porsche Konstruktionen Salzburg banner (the Austrian Porsche distributor owned by his mother, Louise (Ferdinand Porsche’s daughter). The Salzburg team also got to use Porsche’s works-contracted drivers like Kurt Ahrens Jr., Vic Elford, Rudi Lins and Hans Herrmann.
The first John Wyer knew of the Salzburg arrangement was when one of the cars turned up to race at Daytona.
Chassis 019 made its debut at the Sebring 12 Hours on March 21st (round two of the 1970 World Sportscar Championship). It was finished in the Salzburg team’s trademark aero flash livery, in this case white with blue stripes.
Vic Elford and Kurt Ahrens Jr. qualified third, but they retired after 61 laps when Elford was hit by a slower car while trying to avoid another incident.
Chassis 019 was not seen again until mid July when it was taken to Watkins Glen for the double header 6 Hour World Championship event and Can-Am race (July 11th and 12th respectively).
Now presented in a blue colour scheme with white flashes (the reversal of its Sebring livery), Elford was joined by 1967 F1 World Champion, Denny Hulme. They qualified seventh, however, both the Salzburg cars in attendance struggled with chunking tyres. Nevertheless, 019 came home a respectable fourth overall.
Elford was back in 019 for the following day’s Can-Am race. He qualified ninth and had risen to fourth by the end of the 87 lap event. Hulme was the winner in his works McLaren M8D (a bona fide Group 7 car).
The Salzburg operation was disbanded at the end of 1970. For 1971, their cars were leased to the Martini International Racing Team run by Hans-Dieter Dechent. Dechent also inherited Porsche’s full roster of drivers for the new season to include Vic Elford, Gerard Larrousse, Kurt Ahrens Jr., Helmut Marko, Rudi Lins and Gijs van Lennep.
Resplendent in its new Martini colour scheme, chassis 019 appeared five times during the 1971 season. Unfortunately, it failed to finish on every occasion.
It retired with a blown engine after just two laps of the season-opening Buenos Aires 1000km (Marko / van Lennep). 019 then dropped out of the Daytona 24 Hours with a seized gearbox at two thirds distance (Marko / Lins).
At the Brands Hatch 1000km, fuel began leaking onto the rear tyres which briefly ignited in the pits and the car was retired (Elford / Redman). A broken fuel line then put Marko / van Lennep out of the Monza 1000km at one third distance.
In chassis 019’s final outing, the Spa 1000km, it retired after six laps when the engine died (Marko / van Lennep).
In 1972, chassis 019 was sold to Vasek Polak for the Porsche collection at his dealership in Hermosa Beach, California.
Polak retained the car until 1998, at which point it joined the Miles Collier collection (now the Revs Institute) in Naples, Florida.
Notable History
Porsche Konstruktionen Salzburg
White with blue stripes
21/03/1970 WSC Sebring 12 Hours (V. Elford / K. Ahrens Jr.) DNF (#16)
Blue with white stripes
11/07/1970 WSC Watkins Glen 6 Hours (V. Elford / D. Hulme) 4th oa, 4th S5.0 class (#31)
12/07/1970 CAM Watkins Glen (V. Elford) 4th oa, 3rd S5.0 class (#31)
Martini International Racing Team
10/01/1971 WSC Buenos Aires 1000km (H. Marko / G. van Lennep) DNF (#36)
31/01/1971 WSC Daytona 24 Hours (H. Marko / R. Lins) DNF (#3)
04/04/1971 WSC Brands Hatch 1000km (V. Elford / B. Redman) DNF (#8)
25/04/1971 WSC Monza 1000km (H. Marko / G. van Lennep) DNF (#4)
09/05/1971 WSC Spa 1000km (H. Marko / G. van Lennep) DNF (#23)
1972 sold to Vasek Polak, Hermosa Beach, California,
1998 sold to Miles Collier, Naples, Florida
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Porsche - https://www.porsche.com
