The Porsche 917 is one of the fastest production cars ever made. The factory-backed 917s included the Gulf-sponsored JWA team led by LeMans veteran John Wyer. Under his direction, engineer John Horsmann solved a stability problem by cutting off the rear section of the bodywork and replacing it with a new aluminum section. Porsche later adopted this solution for most of their cars, calling them Kurzheck (short-tail) or 917K. In 1970s Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood drove their Salzburg red and white 917K to Porsche's first overall victory at Le Mans. A Gulf Porsche 917K also won the 1970 24 Hours of LeMans, but only in fiction in Steve McQueen's movie Le Mans - and this 917 is the very car that appeared in that film! | |
subscribe - RSS