VIN: the Gulf Racing / Jurgen Neuhaus / Georg Loos Porsche 917 chassis 026
History of chassis 026
Chassis 026 was one of eight 917s campaigned by the Gulf Oil-backed John Wyer Automotive Engineering crew during 1970. Porsche brought Wyer’s much-respected outfit on board for the 1970 and ‘71 seasons to enable the factory to focus on development.
026 made its competition debut as part of a three-car Gulf team at the 1970 Le Mans 24 Hours. It was allocated to David Hobbs and Mike Hailwood who qualified tenth but failed to finish after Hailwood aquaplaned and crashed into a stationary Alfa Romeo during the fifth hour.
Following its retirement, chassis 026 returned to the Porsche factory where it remained until the winter of 1970-1971. At this point the chassis was repaired and the car was rebuilt as a Spyder for Jurgen Neuhaus who wanted a Group 7 917 to contest the 1971 Interserie Championship. The chassis was re-numbered from 026 to 031 while the real chassis 031 had in turn been renumbered 026 for carnet reasons straight after Le Mans.
Jurgen Neuhaus had claimed the inaugural Interserie title of 1970 driving Hans-Georg Biermann’s Group 5 917 (chassis 007). However, the Group 5 917 was not expected to be competitive against an influx of new machinery for 1971 – like Can-Am, Interserie was basically an unlimited formula that permitted Group 7 cars which were lighter and more extreme than their Group 5 counterparts.
With this in mind, Neuhaus ordered a 917 Spyder for the defence of his title and went on to campaign chassis 026 in a spectacular red and yellow psychedelic livery to reflect backing from title sponsor, Shell.
Although he contested all seven Interserie races of 1971, Neuhaus had a disappointing campaign and failed to make the podium all year. His best results were a trio of fourth place finishes at Zolder, Keimola and Hockenheim as fellow Porsche driver Leo Kinnunen stormed to the title.
Neuhaus had more success in non-championship events and the odd round of the German Hillclimb Championship. He won the Nurburgring 300km on his debut outing with chassis 026 plus other events at Mainz-Finthen and Mendig. Four hillclimb victories were also netted (at Krahberg, Oberpfalz, Eller-berg and Sauerland).
Following an outing at the opening race of 1972 (where he placed fifth at the Nurburgring), Neuhaus made the switch the GT racing for the remainder of the season and picked up drives with Alpina (in a BMW 2800 CS) and Porsche Zentrum Nordheim (in a 911).
Chassis 026 was purchased by Cologne-based property developer and gentleman racing driver, Georg Loos. It joined a Group 7 McLaren M8F and Porsche 911 ST in Loos’ GELO Racing Team. For the ‘72 and ‘73 campaigns 026 was driven by Franz Pesch and Jurgen Barth.
In 1974 chassis 026 was sold to Olivier Chandon, heir to the Moet & Chandon fortune. Chandon retained it until his untimely death in 1983 while testing a Ralt at Moroso.
Afterwards the car spent the next 32 years in the collection of Michael Amalfitano who also retained it until he passed away. Since then, chassis 026 has been restored to its original 1970 configuration.
Notable History
John Wyer Automotive Engineering (Gulf Racing)
14/06/1970 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (D. Hobbs / M. Hailwood) DNF (#22)
Converted to Group 7 Spyder trim
Sold to Jurgen Neuhaus (Team Shell-Heckersbruch), Wuppertal
12/04/1971 IND Nurburgring 300km (J. Neuhaus) 1st oa, 1st SRP2.0+ class (#1)
25/04/1971 GHC Krahberg Hillclimb (J. Neuhaus) 1st oa (#1)
02/05/1971 INT Imola (J. Neuhaus) DNF (#1)
06/06/1971 INT Zolder (J. Neuhaus) 4th oa, 3rd Gr.7 class (#1)
20/06/1971 IND Mainz-Finthen (J. Neuhaus) 1st oa, 1st SRP2.0+ class (#??)
04/07/1971 INT Hockenheim (J. Neuhaus) 5th oa (#1)
11/07/1971 INT Norisring (J. Neuhaus) DNF (#1)
18/07/1971 GHC Oberpfalz Hillclimb (J. Neuhaus) 1st oa (#155)
25/07/1971 GHC Eller-berg Hillclimb (J. Neuhaus) 1st oa (#188)
22/08/1971 INT Keimola (J. Neuhaus) 4th oa (#1)
29/08/1971 IND Mendig (J. Neuhaus) 1st oa, 1st SRP2.0+ class (#1)
12/09/1971 INT Imola (J. Neuhaus) WDN (#1)
03/10/1971 INT Hockenheim (J. Neuhaus) 4th oa (#??)
10/10/1971 GHC Sauerland Hillclimb (J. Neuhaus) 1st oa (#1)
03/04/1972 INT Nurburgring (J. Neuhaus) 5th oa, 5th INT class (#6)
Sold to Loos (GELO Racing Team), Cologne
06/08/1972 INT Norisring (F. Pesch) 4th oa (#20)
24/09/1972 INT Nurburgring (G. Loos) DNS (#??)
01/10/1972 INT Hockenheim (F. Pesch) 7th oa, 7th INT class (#30)
24/06/1973 INT Norisring (J. Barth) 5th oa, 4th Gr.7 class (#23)
15/07/1973 INT Hockenheim (J. Barth) 5th oa (#23)
19/08/1973 INT Misano (J. Barth) 6th oa (#23)
30/09/1973 INT Hockenheim (J. Barth) 7th oa (#23)
1974 sold to the Chandon collection, Haute Marne
1978 sold to Mike Amalfitano, Florida
Retained until 2010
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Porsche - https://www.porsche.com
