The Porsche 906 of 1966 and the Porsche 910 of 1967 both used variants of the flat-six-cylinder engine sourced from the 911. However, to remain competitive among the world's elite manufacturers and teams, a competition-specific engine was required. Using the flat-eight Formula 1 engine used in the Porsche 804 of 1962 as design inspiration, Porsche began work on a new flat-eight. It was given a 2.2-liter displacement and initially installed in the 907, itself a development of the 910. In this guise, it won at Daytona and Sebring in 1968.

Porsche boss Ferdinand Piëch decided in mid-1968 that the company would build a race car that could be a contender for overall victory. The new model was to be called the 917, and at least 25 copies of the new 4.5-liter car were needed to be built to satisfy homologation requirements. The goal was to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970.

In the meantime, Chief Engineer Hans Mezger worked to keep Porsche competitive by developing a larger thee-liter variant of the flat-eight that would satisfy new FIA rules limiting engine capacity for Group 6 Prototypes to three liters. This new engine was to be installed in a mildly updated version of the 907 known as the 908, initially wearing closed coupe bodies with low drag intended for high-speed tracks. A total of 31 examples were eventually built in both long-tail and short-tail coupe and Spyder configurations from 1968 to 1973.

The mid-mounted engine was basically a larger version of the 2.2-liter unit found in the 907. It was, however, the first racing engine from the company to meet a class displacement maximum. The new 3,000cc engine was ready for its first appearance during Le Mans testing in April of 1968. The early examples of the all-alloy, dry-sumped, twin-ignition, four-cam, eight-cylinder boxer engine revealed severe vibration. This issue was resolved by changing the firing order and using the 66-mm crankshaft of the 907. With 10.4:1 compression and Bosch Kugelfischer indirect fuel-injection, the engine offered around 350 horsepower at 8,500 RPM and 232 foot-pounds of torque at 6,600 RPM. Tipping the scales at 1,300 lbs, the 908 offered an impressive horsepower-to-weight ratio. To achieve optimal weight balance, the engine was mated to a five-speed gearbox with the clutch and final drive at the rear. In this configuration, the engine was installed much farther forward in the chassis. As a result, the driver was nearly between the front wheels. Larger brakes (than the ones found in the 907) were installed to cope with the more powerful engine and increase in weight. The early cars used steel for the spaceframe chassis while later examples used aluminum, further reducing the vehicle's overall weight.

By the time the 908 was ready for competition mid-way through the 1968 season, the eight-cylinder 907s had already scored a 1-2-3 victory in the Daytona 24 Hours race. The LeMans testing revealed the aforementioned vibration along with problems with the six-speed gearbox. The Works drivers refused to drive the 908 at its inaugural race, at Monza. The longtail coupe proved difficult and unpredictable, and the driver's much preferred the short-tailed coupes. Porsche engineers revised the moveable wing system on four of the coupes to help ensure stability at speed. These four cars were also given the aluminum spaceframe and made ready for the Le Man's race, which had been postponed due to political unrest in France to September from June. The Porsche 908 LH Long Tails proved to be very quick, setting the fastest times in qualifying. At LeMans, the 908s led for the first two hours before suffering engine and gearbox-related problems which prematurely sidelined their racing endeavors. One 908 managed a respectable third-place finish behind a 907 Long Tail and a V8-powered Ford GT40.

Work continued on the 908 over the off-season, including a new 5-liter example (called the 908/2) that would comply with new Group 6 prototype rules. Dubbed the 908/02, the overall weight was reduced further by removing the long tails, roof, and using the aluminum tube frames. The troublesome six-speed gearbox was replaced by a more reliable five-speed unit, and the engine vibration issues had been resolved with a new crankshaft. Three examples were brought to the 1969 24 Hours of Daytona but all three failed to finish. Three 908/2s were brought to the 12 Hours of Sebring but were beaten by a Ford GT40.

By this point in history, Porsche was revealing the 908/02 replacement, the 917 in Geneva. While the 917's teething problems were being resolved, the 908/2 had evolved into a finely-tuned competitor. The next race for the 908 was at the BOAC500 at Brands Hatch, where they finished 1-2-3. Additional wins followed at the 1000km Monza, the Targa Florio, the 1000km Spa, and a convincing 1-2-3-4-5 at the 1000 km Nürburgring. By the close of the season, Porsche's had been named the 1969 International Championship for Makes.

At LeMans, the 908 driven by Hans Hermann challenged the Ford GT40 for overall victory, coming in a close 2nd behind Jacky Ickx.

Development work on the 908 continued during the off-season, resulting in the 908/03 for 1970. Working in tandem with its larger sibling, the 917, the 908/03 would prove to be very useful on the smaller, slower, and twisty tracks where its nimble size and lightweight persona proved to be better suited. For the high-speed tracks, the 917K and its top speed of approximately 240 mph was often the frontrunner.

The 908/03 - unlike the 917K was of exclusive use for the factory teams - used the new open cockpit setup of the Porsche 909 hillclimbing car. It was shorter than the 908/02 and weighed a mere 500 kg.

The Porsche 908/03 made its racing debut in 1970 at the Targa Florio, where Porsche motorsports chief Ferdinand Piëch and his team brought four examples. Three were assigned to John Wyer and his factory-supported team while the other was raced as an official works car. Jo Siffert and Brian Redman of the Wyer team qualified pole position, followed by the official Porsche works 908/03 of Vic Elford and Hans Hermann. Racing in the 3-liter prototype class (one of 12 different classes of racing), Jo Siffert and Brian Redman finished first overall followed by Leo Kinnunen and Pedro Rodriquez in another 908/03. A 908/02 finished fourth followed by Bjorn Waldegard and Richard Attwood in fifth driving a 908/03.

This marked the 10th time a Porsche had captured the overall victory at the Targa Florio, their first victory was in 1956. The final victory was in 1973, with a Porsche 911.

The 908/03 was used for the Nurburgring race. During qualifying, a 908/02 driven by Finnish driver Hans Laine was involved in a fatal accident, sending the car into the air where it did a full backflip and landed back on the track and rolled several times. One of the works Ferrari 512S Spyders was also involved in an accident during practice, and neither Jacky Ickx or Peter Schetty took part in the race.

The Porsche cars dominated the qualifying session taking the first four positions on the grid. Jo Siffert and Brian Redman capture the pole position, followed by Pedro Rodriguez/Leo Kinnunen, Vic Elford/Kurt Ahrens, Jr., and then Hans Herrmann/Richard Attwood. The overall victory would go to Vic Elford and Kurt Ahrens, Jr. in a 908/03. The second place went to another 908/03, driven by Hermann and Attwood. A pair of Ferrari 512S models took the next two spots, followed by 908/02's in fifth through 8th position. A Porsche 907 finished in 9th.

The Group 5 Sports Car category was discontinued in 1972 making the 917 and the Ferrari 512 obsolete. The 3000cc category was renamed to the Group 5 Sports Car category and due to the new rules which required a much higher weight than cars in the Porsche stable, the advantage went to Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, and Matra. Having achieved a victory at Le Mans and numerous overall victories and championships, Porsche decided to end its factory sports car racing. The 908/03 were sold to customers, and apart from the 917/10 turbo Can-Am cars, Porsche's attention was focused on the 911.

The Porsche 908 continued to compete at the highest levels of international racing well into the early 1980s with considerable success. Reinhold Joest entered a 908LH Coupe at the 1972 24 Hours of LeMans and finished 3rd overall.

Although the 908 is often overshadowed by the Le Mans-winning 917, the 908 holds the distinction of winning the 1000km Nürburgring in three different decades, winning four years in a row from 1968 to 1971 and again in 1980.

by Dan Vaughan

908 Syder Chassis No. 908.016 of 1968

Spyder
Chassis number: 908-016

The 908's initally used short-tail and long-tail coupe bodies similar to those of the 907's, with engines that were basically two-liter sixes with two more cylinders and a bigger bore. Then came the various Spyders, including the 'Coke bottle,' the colorfully nicknamed 'Flounder,' the long-tail LeMans Spyder, and that nimble racer, the 908/03.

All the 908 did was win Porsche's first World Championship in 1969 with five victories in a row. From 1968 through 1971, 908's won II world championship races and one Can-Am race.

This chassis is one of the first series and originally was a long-tail coupe. It ran at LeMans with Siffert and Herrmann driving in 1968. The factory rebodied it as a Spyder and it raced in that configuration several times, at least once with Larrouse Driving. This car is painted as Tony Dean's winning 908 in the Can-Am race at Road Atlanta in 1970. The only 3.0 liter car ever to win a Can-Am race against the big blocks.

This chassis #908-016 is one of the first series and was originally a long tail coupe. It ran at LeMans with Jo Siffert and Hans Herrmann driving in 1969.

The factory rebodied it as a Spyder. It raced in that configuration several times and at least once with Gerard Larrousse driving it.

It has been completely restored by Amalfi Racing with factory assistance.

S/N 908-016, originally a long tail coupe, raced at LeMans in 1969 with Jo Stiffert and Hans Hermann. It was re-bodied by the factory, raced again as a Spyder and restored by Amalfi Racing.

Coupe
Chassis number: 908-019

After the 1967 LeMans race, the FIA decided to change the rules to limit maximum displacement to 4-liters. Porsche reworked the 8=907 to accept the new 3-liter engine, thus creating the 908. The new 908 boxer eight cylinder engine needed only 25 man-hours to assemble versus 225 man-hours to assemble the 907 engine. Porsche 908-019 is one of only two existing 908 coupes.

This factory car participated in only one race, the Austrian Grand Prix at Zeltweg. It was used as a street car in Australia for many years, and then restored back to a race car. This car has the original body with matching numbers of engine and gearbox cases.

Coupe
Chassis number: 908-010
Engine number: 908-034

Porsche 908-010 short-tail coupe was a Porsche works car and was one of the first editions of the legendary 908. It is believed to be one of five ex-works short-tail prototypes still in existence. It is powered by a 3-liter 8-cylinder motor producing 350 horsepower.

The first of the 3-liter 908s was introduced at the Le Mans test weekend in April of 1968 and was subsequently raced at the 1,000 Kilometers of Monza in Italy and Nurburing in Germany prior Spa in May of 1968. Two fresh short-tail coupes were brought to the 1,000 Kilometers of Spa in May of 1968, chassis numbers 908-010 (car number 6) and 908-011 (car number 5).

As was often the case at Spa, the weather was extremely wet. Vic Elford and Jochen Neerpasch were assigned to -010 and qualified 4th for the starting grid. Vic Elford drove the first 32 laps, leading on a few occasions, then turned the wheel over to Neerpasch. After only two laps Neerpasch slid off track into a telegraph pole.

The heavily damaged car would not race again for Porsche and was sold to a private party in Switzerland. In the late 1990s Dale Miller discovered the car, brought it to the United States and sold it to Bill Ferren. Ferren oversaw a complete restoration, concluded in time for the 2004 Rennsport Reunion at Daytona. In December of 2006, Cameron Healy of Portland, Oregon purchased the car and brought it to the West Coast where it is being actively raced in vintage events.

Recently, the car was awarded Best in Class at the Forest Grove, Oregon, Concours d' Elegance in July 2016 in a special group of Porsche race cars judged by Miles Collier and Dr. Julio Palmaz. It was a participant at many Rolex Monterey Motorsport Reunions (2007–2010), Rennsport Reunions II and III at Daytona, as well as RS IV at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. In April of 2010, the car received its FIA HTP.

Chassis number 908-010 is one of just five to be fitted with special short-tail (Kurzheck) bodywork, and one of two that was entered at the 1000 KM race at Spa, Belgium, on May 26th of 1968.

Coupe
Chassis number: 908-008

Porsche introduced the 908 to the world of sports car racing in 1968. Joining forces with their 907, the new short tail and long tail coupes made for a tight battle as Porsche and Ford fought until the final race of the season at LeMans, before Ford prevailed.

Vic Elford was one of the key elements in the Porsche effort. He won three times - Daytona, Targa Florio and Nurburgring. The car, chassis number 008, was his winning mount for the Nurburgring 1000km race.

Extreme weather conditions in qualifying caused Vic and co-driver Jo Siffert to start 27th on the grid. Undeterred by the continuing raining and hail during the race, they took the lead at the halfway point and never looked back. The margin of victory was a full three minutes over the second place Porsche. This was the first of four consecutive victories for Vic Elford at this storied race.

Coupe
Chassis number: 908-011

Racing enhances the breed, and this was certainly true for Porsche. In the 1960s, Porsche continued to distance itself from the competition by adapting aerospace technology in the form of fiberglass and composite construction in its 904 models. The 906 Model continued Porsche's fiberglass technology evolution, which utilized a lightweight tubular space frame with the body bonded directly to the tubing. It proved so successful, that Porsche would continue this method of sports-racing car construction until the introduction of the 956 in 1982.

Taking advantage of the new FIA rules limiting engine capacity for Group 6 Prototypes to three liters, Chief Engineer Hans Mezger developed a three-liter variant of the flat-eight. The engine was installed in the 907 and became known as the 908. The initial cars were closed coupes intended to offer low drag for a high top speed. Spyder variants followed.

This particular example, chassis number 908-011, is one of just 31 examples built and one of two examples that debuted at the 1968 Spa 1000 kilometers. It started in grid position fifth and was driven by factory drivers Hans Herrmann and Rolf Stommelen to a third-place finish. Next was the Watkins Glen Six Hour, Grid position fifth, George Follmer / Joe Buzzetta driving and DNF due to engine issues. The Zeltweg 500KM was next with Jochen Neerpasch/Rudi Lins as drivers. It gridded 13th but was disqualified.

In 1974 it was sold to Sepp Greger of Germany, who stripped the car of parts and used them for his Porsche 907 and 908 including selling the engine and gearbox. In 1982 the damaged chassis and body were sold to Joseph Reichpurner of Geneva, Switzerland. Reichpurner repaired the chassis including installing a new nose. Reichpurner's son sold the repaired chassis and body to Dale Miller of Miller Historic Motorcars, USA, in 1998. In 2005, Miller sold the completed car to its current owner.

The Porsche racing legacy began with the very first cars that it produced. Dr. Ferry Porsche was the company creator and a racing enthusiast who understood the benefits of racing participation. Prior to the 908, the Porsche victories had been in their class rather than overall wins, due to their small engines when compared with their competition.

The 908 was identical to the 907 both in long and short tail form, except for the engine. The eight-cylinder, three-liter 908 was Porsche's first attempt to win The World Manufacturers' Championship. In 1967, Hans Mezger, an employee of Porsche and an individual who would later design the 917 Type 912 12-cylinder, began the design and production of their power-plant that would finally equal the competition and make it a contender for the overall victory. The three-liter engine was a modified version of the four-cam six-cylinder engine that had been used in the Type 901 flat-six used in the 911. With dry-sump lubrication, titanium rods and bolts, aluminum heads and cylinders, and sodium-filled valves, the engine was technologically advanced, lightweight, and rugged. The bore was enlarged to 84 mm and fitted to the 907's six-speed transaxle. However, from 1969, a new five-speed gearbox was used.

The 908/3 engine produced 350 horsepower which was low when compared with the other manufacturer's engines. The reason the 908 was competitive was that it was light and its power-to-weight ratio was better than most.

The racing history for the 908 began at the 1968 Nueburging 1000km. The short-tail coupe driven by Vic Elford and Jo Siffert won the event. Another race in Austria had Stiffert finishing first and Kurt Aherns finishing second. By now, the shortcomings of the 908 were evident. It suffered from crankshaft-induced torsion vibrations causing many of the engine components to fail, including the alternator. There were aerodynamic instabilities, wheel bearing failures, gearbox failures, and frame breakage. These issues were addressed in time by changing the firing order of the engine, adding fins and fifteen-inch wheels, and using a new Type 916 transaxle.

The 908 was entered in the 1968 Le Mans 24 Hours where it finished third behind the second place 907.

For the 1969 season and with a year worth of 908 growing pains realized, it was ready for victory. Unfortunately, the 908 was unable to capture the checkered flag at Daytona or Sebring. The 917 debuted at the Geneva Auto Show and the 908 was becoming old news. The mechanical shortcomings in the 908 were once again addressed and the remainder of the season was positive. A win at Targa Florio along with many other victories earned Porsche its initial FIA World Manufacturers Crown.

The 908 had an illustrious career both on the race track and as a movie star. Porsche 908#022 was used in Steve McQueen's film about LeMans. The movie was to be a documentary of the 24-hour race. In preparation for the movie and for LeMans, Steve raced the 908 during the 1970 season. The vehicle was DNF'ed at Riverside International Raceway due to a gearbox failure. A first-place finish was achieved at the Phoenix International Raceway. At the Sebring International 12 Hour Endurance Race, another amazing race, it was Ferrari with Mario Andretti behind the wheel who would emerge victorious by a mere 22 seconds. The 908 placed second overall and first in the Sports Prototype class. 908.022 was entered in LeMans but Steve McQueen was unable to race. The film's backers did not want to take the chance of having their movie star injured or worse. So Herbert Linge and Jonathan Williams drove 908.022 to a ninth-place finish. The pit stops for 908.022 were longer than most due to the additional duties involved such as changing the camera film. McQueen's LeMans paid homage to the greatest endurance race in the world, the greatest cars of the time, and the greatest drivers. It is an excellent souvenir, documentary, and memento.

The entire racing career for the 908 included eleven championship victories over a span of four years. One of the closest and most memorable LeMans race was in 1969 where the 908 finished in second place. The 917 had been retired after hour 22 due to clutch failure. The race came down to a Ford GT 40 and the Porsche 908. The John Wyer's Ford GT 40 finished less than 70 yards in front of the 908. The LeMans race would ultimately become the one that would forever elude the 908.

The 908 is one of many great Porsches from the 1960's. The 904, 906, and 917 often overshadow the 908's success. The mechanical difficulties that plagued the 908 kept it from achieving some important victories but its accomplishments are undeniable and legendary.

by Dan Vaughan