1970 Porsche 908/3 Spyder

The Porsche 908/03 was built primarily for contesting the Targa Florio and the Nürburgring 1000 KM, where both required nimble handling and quick acceleration to conquer their peculiar twisty natures. At the Nürburgring 1000 KM, the Porsche 908/03 secured a 1st and 2nd overall and at the Targa Florio their efforts were rewarded with a 1st and 2nd overall.

The teams of Jo Siffert/Brian Redman and Leo Kinnunen/Pedro Rodríguez finished 1st and 2nd at the Targa Florio, with another 908/03 finishing 5th.

Chassis number 003 was built in January of 1970 and used by Porsche at their facilities in Weissach for final testing of the 908/03 prior to the 1970 racing season. It did not contest that year's Targa Florio, chassis 003 was used by Porsche in the pre-test of the event. It ran a total of 14 lapson the 72-kilometer long road course in pre-tests with drivers including Brian Redman and Jo Siffert.

The only formal competitive outing for chassis number 03 was at the Nürburgring 1000 KM several weeks later. It was campaigned by de-facto factory team Porsche Salzburg and driven by Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood. Hermann's fastest lap during qualifying was a 7:57.10, which earned him 4th on the grid. Porsche took the top two positions, with chassis 003 coming in shortly behind Vic Elford and Kurt Ahrens Jr., campaigning chassis 008 also under the Porsche Salzburg banner.

For the remainder of the season, Porsche would use the 917. At the end of the year, Porsche had clinched the Manufacturers Championship.

Chassis number 003 was retained by the factory for further testing, specifically to test a solid rear suspension. By this point, the car had gained rear fins in an effort to add to its aerodynamic stability. At this time, the car was involved in an accident, although no details regarding the reason or extent of the damage are known.

Hans Dieter Blatzheim acquired the car near the close of 1973, after which it was acquired by Porsche factory driver Siggi Brunn. Over the years that followed, Brunn rebuilt the car using a variety of Mehako aluminum tubes for the chassis, sourced directly from Porsche, utilizing approximately 30–40 percent of the car's original chassis tubing. The chassis was reinforced to improve structure rigidity and to avoid cracks.

Around the early 2000s, the car was granted an FIA Historical Technical Passport to prepare for use in historic racing. In Brunn's ownership, the car took to the track in 2004 at Spa-Francorchamps for the One Hour historic race in the Classic Endurance Championship.

In 2007, Brunn sold the car to Uli Schumacher, who campaigned the car under his ownership. It was raced at the Le Mans Classic in both 2010 and 2012 and at the Oldtimer GP at the Nürburgring in 2010, and was also displayed at the Techno Classica in Essen in 2011.

Currently, the car is in the care of an Austria individual, who has returned it to its most signficiant livery - the pale yellow that it wore when it placed 2nd at the Nürburgring 1000 KM in 1970. A restoration was completed in 2016 where it received a new fuel tank and fire system. In July of 2017, it was shown at the Masterpieces Concours d'Elegance at Schloss Dyck where it was awarded First in Class honors.

Of the three cars campaigned by Porsche Salzburg and used by Porsche for development purposes, one remains with Porsche in the factory museum; one has remained in long-term ownership by a former Porsche team driver in Germany for decades; chassis 003 is the third.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2017