The 917 turns 40 tomorrow!
Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 3:50 pm
That's right guys, it was 40 year ago, on the 13th of March 1969 (I was just born 10 days ago...) that the 917 was presented to the public at the Geneva International Motor Show.
Project typ 917 started in June 1968, after an announcement by the FIA (thru it's independent competition branch – the Commission Sportive Internationale) crating a new 3 litre Group 6 class for prototypes, but still allowing the participation of the 5 litre Group 4 Sports Cars, but with a catch: a minimum of 50 units had to be manufactured...
And the rest, is now History!
In 1997, the 917 was acclaimed as "The Greatest Racing Car of all time" by an expert poll conducted by Motor Sport Magazine.
In the 2000 edition of the Le Mans race, a Jury, composed by specialized journalists, declared the Porsche 917 as the "Car of the Century at Le Mans".
And it seems the maximum speed of 396 km/h achieved in a night testing session, in 1971 at the L´Hunnadieres straight, by Jackie Oliver is still to be beaten...!
My request is this: please post your favorite (and rare!) 917 pictures here.
but if it was, I'd probably keep it! 
)
