Welcome to the 917 very exclusive owner’s club!

A bit of history

I couldn’t find the sports car of my dreams, so I built it myself.  — Ferdinand Porsche

In april 1968 the International Sporting Commission significantly modifies current racing practices, allowing car manufacturers to produce 25 cars instead of 50 in order to obtain the sport’s car homologation. This amendment inspires Porsche to conceive a whole new car for the « Sport » category with one underlying goal: to win its first overall victory at Le Mans. Even if the 908 was very competitive and brought many victories to the Stuttgart manufacturer, the car quickly turned out to be limited in endurance events. A weakness that motivated Porsche to develop in only ten months the iconic « winning car », the Porsche 917, which incorporated remarkable technology: Porsche’s first 12-cylinder engine and many components from titanium, magnesium and exotic alloys. The 917 included another feature which would prove to be controversial in the days leading up to the race: movable aerodynamic wings. In March 1969, the 917 is presented at the Geneva Car Show, and 25 identical models were being manufactured at this time and offered to racing teams for a very attractive price of 140’000 Deutsch Marks. Only one, however, was purchased by a private interest by the time of the Le Mans race, that of Britian John Woolfe. With a weight of 950 kg and 560/580 horsepower, the 917 is by far the fastest, but no solution was found to fix instabilities of the car, and the usual Porsche drivers were not very keen on driving this dangerous car. It was undoubtedly the fastest car on the racing scene at that time, but it also earned a fearsome reputation: the car built in so short time was facing serious stability issues. Thus, the 917 drivers nicknamed it »The Ulcer » for its frighteningly wayward behavior. However, three 917s were set to enter Le Mans, two were Porsche Works teams, Stommelen – Ahrens and Elford – Attwood, and the third was entered by Woolfe.

The first attendance of 917 models at le Mans 1969 wasn’t really a success, a fatal crash for Woolfe in the first lap, followed an abandon of Stommelen-Ahrens team due to a mechanical problem. All hopes remained on the 917-008 driven by Alford & Atwood, who was leading the race for 21 consecutive hours, before a clutch issue prevented them to pass the finish line.

Following this eventful opening race, the German firm reworked on the aerodynamics of the car and changed it from long tail to K version, a smart move for Porsche that  has been rewarded by their first overall wins at the following editions of Le Mans 1970 and 1971.

 

 

The 917 nowadays

In 2018 we count 35 existing 917. Some of them are being conserved in Museums and private car collections while others are still racing at historic events such as Le Mans Classic. 

The 917 Owner’s club is an exclusive membership reserved to the car’s owners. A simple way to identify the lucky owner of these legend cars and share the common passion through special events.

 

55 years celebration in 2019

1969-2024 that makes 55 years! A big anniversary date that will have to be celebrated. For this very special occasion we will reunited the 917 owner’s and organise a wonderful day. Please contact us to sign up for the event.