For 1972, the FIA’s dropped its Group 5 category for up to five-litre Sports cars which had met a 25 unit production requirement. Over night, the Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512 became pretty much…
Read MoreAlfa Romeo originally hoped to sell 50 examples of the handsome Tipo 33 Stradale in order to qualify the car into the Group 4 Sports class. However, demand for the extremely expensive…
Read MoreAlthough there was little doubt that, with the formidable 917, Porsche had the fastest Sports Prototype of its era, a performance gulf existed between the crushingly effective short-tailed 917 K…
Read MoreBy 1974, Ferrari dealers in the USA were struggling. The market for gas guzzlers was in the midst of being ravaged by the OPEC oil crisis while garage inventories typically comprised ageing Dinos and…
Read MoreIn early February 1974, Porsche announced they had discontinued their Group 7 racing programme with the 917. Cost had a part to play, but the new company Chairman, Ernst Fuhrmann, also held a…
Read MorePorsche had beaten Ferrari by nine wins to one in the 1970 World Sportscar Championship (including twice with the 908/03). They were hoping for a similarly dominant 1971 season. 1971 was to be the last…
Read MoreAt the 1970 Le Mans, had it not been for some rain-soaked electrics, one of Porsche’s long tailed 917s may well have won. Further refinements were made in anticipation of a return to la Sarthe in…
Read MoreHaving made a solid debut in Can-Am with the 1969 Group 7 917 Spyder, Porsche had nevertheless been soundly beaten by the works McLaren M8Bs with their seven-litre 635bhp Chevrolet engines.
Read MoreAlthough the Kurzheck configuration had transformed the Porsche 917 from an unstable and ill-handling pig, the trade off was a big drop in top speed; these short tailed variants topped out at…
Read MoreFollowing back-to-back defeats at Daytona and Sebring in early 1969, Porsche decided they wanted a partner organisation to race their cars. Such a move would enable the factory to focus purely on…
Read MoreFive years after the last Tipo 33 Stradale-based concept, the sixth and final example was unveiled during March 1976 at the Geneva Motor Show. Constructed on chassis 750.33.117, it was the second…
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