VIN: the Porsche Salzburg / Martini Racing Porsche 917 / 917 K chassis 023
/ Ben Tyer
HISTORY OF CHASSIS 023
Chassis 023 was one of four 917s leased to the Porsche Konstruktionen Salzburg team for the 1970 season.
The Salzburg operation was a quasi-works outfit run by Ferdinand Porsche’s grandson, Ferdinand Piech.
Although Porsche had signed a deal with John Wyer Automotive Engineering to race the 917 for 1970 and 917, Piech (who had been a key player in the car’s development) still wanted to run the 917 in a semi-official capacity.
As a result, 917s appeared throughout 1970 under the Porsche Konstruktionen Salzburg banner (Piech’s mother’s Austrian distributorship for the marque). Factory drivers Kurt Ahrens Jr., Vic Elford, Rudi Lins and Hans Herrmann were employed and the first John Wyer knew of the Salzburg operation was when they turned up for the season opener at Daytona.
For chassis 023’s first three races it ran in a plain white livery and was driven by Vic Elford. At the Brands Hatch 1000km, Elford was joined by Denny Hulme (substituting for Kurt Ahrens Jr. who had been injured in a high speed crash behind the wheel of a 917 Langheck). 023 qualified third and after a very wet race finished second.
At Monza, 023 ran the new 4.9-litre engine and updated Girling brake system. This time with Elford / Ahrens Jr. at the wheel, it qualified third but retired at mid-distance as the engine had been over revved.
At Spa, the same drivers qualified twelfth and had a good run to finish third.
For 023’s next two appearances it ran in a handsome orange and white-striped livery.
Richard Attwood and Hans Herrmann shared the car at the Le Mans 24 Hours where they qualified 15th. As the other 917s dropped out, 023 came through to take Porsche’s first outright win at la Sarthe. It finished five laps clear of the only other 917 to go the distance: the purple and green Martini-backed Langheck of Gerard Larrousse and Willi Kauhsen.
Despite such a historic victory, chassis 023 was pressed into service for three additional races.
Its last outing for the Salzburg squad came at the final World Championship event of season: the Zeltweg 1000km. Elford / Attwood qualified fourth and, although they stopped eight laps from the end owing to a broken oil cooler, 023 covered sufficient distance to be classified in fourth.
For 1971, the Salzburg operation was disbanded and their cars were leased to the Martini International Racing Team run by Hans-Dieter Dechent. Dechent inherited Porsche’s full roster of drivers to include Vic Elford, Gerard Larrousse, Kurt Ahrens Jr., Helmut Marko, Rudi Lins and Gijs van Lennep.
023 made two appearances for the Martini squad in 1971.
At the season-opening Buenos Aires 1000km, Elford / Larrousse qualified fourth, but they were disqualified having completed 65 laps after two mechanics went out on track to try and fix a faulty fuel pump.
Elford / van Lennep then qualified eleventh for the next round at Daytona. However, just before midnight, 023 suffered a tyre blowout while Elford was at the wheel. The car went up into the banking where it was heavily damaged albeit without injury to the driver. 023 was repaired but not raced again.
In 1972, Porsche sold chassis 023 to Vasek Polak for the collection at his Hermosa Beach showroom in California. Polak retained the car until 1982, at which point it departed for the collection of Yoshio Matsuda in Gotemba on the outskirts of Tokyo.
Matsuda in turn sold the car in 1999, since which time it has been through the hands of a couple more major collectors.
Notable History
Porsche Konstriktionen Salzburg
White livery
12/04/1970 WSC Brands Hatch 1000km (V. Elford / D. Hulme) 2nd oa, 2nd S5.0 class (#11)
25/04/1970 WSC Monza 1000km (V. Elford / K. Ahrens Jr.) DNF (#10)
17/05/1970 WSC Spa 1000km (V. Elford / K. Ahrens Jr.) 3rd oa, 3rd S5.0 class (#28)
Red with white stripes
14/06/1970 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (R. Attwood / H. Herrmann) 1st oa, 1st S5.0 class (#23)
11/10/1970 WSC Zeltweg 1000km (V. Elford / R. Attwood) 4th oa, 2nd S5.0 class (#21)
Martini International Racing Team
Silver Martini livery
10/01/1971 WSC Buenos Aires 1000km (V. Elford / G. Larrousse) DSQ (#38)
31/01/1971 WSC Daytona 24 Hours (V. Elford / G. van Lennep) DNF (#4)
1972 sold to Vasek Polak, California
1982 sold to Yoshio Matsuda, Japan
1999 sold to Symbolic Motors, California
2000 sold to Julio Palmaz, California
2011 sold to Carlos Monteverde, London
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Porsche - https://www.porsche.com
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