1968 Porsche 907 Short Tail Coupe

The Porsche 907 had a racing career which lasted less than a year as a 'werks' backed entry. But it was sure a good year! With wins at the Targa Florio, Daytona, and Sebring, and second places at Brands Hatch, Monza, Nurburgring, Spa and LeMans, these cars were ready to challenge for overall victories any time they were entered. Equipped with a 2.2-liter, eight-cylinder, fuel-injected, four-cam engine that required 220 man-hours to assemble, an output of 275 horsepower was achieved. The aero bodywork was handsome as well. This 907, chassis 907 205, won the 1968 Targa Florio with Vic Elford driving in what most autosports historians consider to be the greatest drive in the history of the Targa. After trailing the lead car by more than 20 minutes at the end of the 10-lap event (each lap is 44 miles), Elford proceeded to break the previous year's lap record four times en route to victory lane, including a stunning lap ONE FULL MINUTE lower than the previous year's mark, winning by three minutes over the second-place Alfa Tipo 33.

Hampered early in the race by having to make four stops to replace a loosening wheel nut (one of which required on-course change to the spare wheel/tire), Vic found himself 20 minutes in arrears of the leaders. Continually breaking the race lap record, Vic eventually caught and passed the leaders and won the race by a 3-minute margin over the second place car. The car was restored in the early 2000s and currently is used for various demonstrations at selected events in the United States.

Vic 'Quick Vic' Elford began the 1968 racing season behind the wheel of a factory-entered 2.0-liter Porsche 911 T. Elford and his navigator David Stone drove from behind in the final stage to beat fellow Porsche driver Pauli Toivonen by over a minute. In his typical style, the post-race celebration began with a drink and a cigarette, though he later recounted, 'it took me three attempts before I was able to light a cigarette.' His next event was a few days later at Daytona, where he was joined by Rolf Stommelen to pilot one of four new 2.2-liter flat-eight Porsche 907 langheck (long-tail) coupes in the 24 hours race. When the checkered flag fell, concluding the marathon event, Elford had won, earning Porsche its first-ever overall win in a 24-hour race.

Three weeks after the Daytona 24 Hours, Elford placed second in a 907 at the Sebring 12 Hours. At the Brands Hatch 6 Hours, he placed third in a 907, before his next race with Porsche System Engineering at the 52nd running of the Targa Florio, 5 May 1968.

The 1968 Targa Florio
Before arriving at the Targa Florio, Porsche 907 chassis 025 raced at the 1968 Sebring 12 Hours. Former Ferrari factory driver Ludovico Scarfiotti and New Yorker Joe Buzzetta were tasked with driving 907 025 during the race. They qualified 8th in a field of 71 and Scarfiotti made up a few positions during the Le Mans start, moving up to 5th. After approximately twenty minutes, a possible missed shift and overrevving resulted in a loss of power. After sitting in pit lane, it was later moved to the paddock infield until it was time for Porsche System Engineering to head home with another 1-2 finish. After repairs, chassis 025 was prepped for the Targa Florio.

Elford was paired with Umberto Maglioli at the Targa Florio and assigned chassis number 907 025. Maglioli was familiar with the event, having won it in 1953 and again in 1956. Elford qualified 907 025 on pole, placing them in prime position to tackle the nearly 45-mile Circuito Piccolo delle Madonie course, a distance they would have to repeat eleven times. As was tradition, each car started the Targa Florio in 20-second intervals. With the prototypes starting last, Elford started his first lap setting a blistering pace before 025 suddenly had no drive after just 10 km. After getting out of the car, he noticed the center-lock wheel nut had come loose on the right rear, removing the wheel from its splines. The spectators quickly descended from their vantage points above the road, and, as Elford explained, 'physically lifted the car while I retightened the wheel.' With the repair made, Elford drove 907 025 to 'Bivio Polizzi,' the unofficial pitstop halfway through the lap, where Porsche race mechanics replaced the rear wheel and Elford continued.

A few kilometers down the road, the same wheel nut loosened. 907 025 left the road with the result being a broken magnesium wheel and a punctured front tire. Once again, Elord was quickly joined by spectators who helped repair the 907. The rear wheel was once again retightened and the front received a space-saver spare. With little confidence, Elford started off slowly but quickly returned to race speed on the run back to the pits, where all four wheels and center-lock nuts were replaced. By the start of his second lap, he was eighteen minutes behind the leading car.

After three more laps, Elford relinquished driving duties to his co-driver Umberto Maglioli. After just two laps, the Italian handed 907 025 back to Elford, now in fourth position. Leaving the pits, Elford and 025 set a lap record, followed by another lap record, and then a third, the last more than one minute faster than the previous record. With the end of the race quickly coming to a close, Elford and 907 025 passed the leading Alfa Tipo 33/2 with half a lap to go. When they crossed the finish line, they had extended their lead by over three minutes. 907 025 had finished the race nearly 10 minutes off the previous best race time, finishing in 6 hours 28 minutes and 47.9 seconds which included the 18 minutes to retighten and replace the 907s wheels on the first lap.

The Targa Florio was the final time that Porsche System Engineering raced 907 025 and was later sold to Siegfried Lang.

The 907 served as a Porsche factory race car for only a brief period, as it was phased out during the second half of the 1968 race season and replaced by the more potent 3.0-liter 908.

Chassis 907 025 : 1969 and 1970 Season
Siegfried Lang entered 907 025 under his 'Valvoline Racing-Team' umbrella for 1969, where it DNF'd at the Monza 1000 Kms with Rolf Stommelen and Lang. It later competed in several local sprint and hillclimb events across Europe to close out the season. Accolades during the year include first-place finishes at Eggberg, Rochefort-La Tourne, and Luzzone. Close to the end of the hillclimb season on 31 August 1969, Lang was involved in a shunt at the Ollon-Villars hillclimb.

It is believed that repairs were made by Porsche, and following a rebuild, it emerged as an open-cockpit Spyder to better suit the hillclimb competitions that Lang favored.

Lang began the 1970 season with victories at Riedenburg and the 'Swiss Races' at Hockenheim. Sadly, the race at Eggberg proved fatal for Lang. After the accident, 907 025 passed to French racer Gérard Cuynet and then to Pierre de Siebenthal.

In 2000, after coming to the attention of Porsche prototype authority Dale Miller, 907 025 was sent to the United States for his client Dr. Julio Palmaz where it entered the workshop of Patrick Scalli of Gloucester, Massachusetts. It was restored back to its original specification, including a rebuild of the original 2.2-liter flat eight engine. The work was rewarded in 2007 with a win at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in the Targa Florio Class, and later in 2012 as the winner of the Corporate Award for the Best Example of Race Car Engineering.

Dr. Palmaz sold 907 025 to the Fica Frio collection in 2012, where it would remain for the next four years. It entered the current owner's care in 2015.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jun 2023