It's not every day that a Porsche 917 is offered for sale.
This prototype, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2019, had been developed to allow the Zuffenhausen manufacturer to shine in endurance races and in particular at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the most prestigious of events.
Porschea barely 20 years of existence when he embarked on the design and development of this new prototype.
Largely supported by Ferdinand Piëch, the nephew of Ferry Porscheal then technical director of the German brand, the 917 program represents quite a challenge.
To animate the proto, the engineers develop a flat 12 cylinder and a very tapered body.
The beginnings are difficult.
The 917 is difficult to fly at high speed due to delicate heading hold.
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Phil Norton © 2021 Courtesy of RM Sotheby's
By dint of improvement, the 917 ended up becoming a scarecrow at the start of the 1970 season. John Wyer took part in it.
The boss of the team that bears his name entered several cars in the colors of the Gulf tanker.
At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, three blue and orange cars take the start.
The car auctioned in Monterey next August by RM Sotheby's is one of those three cars.
It has chassis number 026. It is entrusted to David Hoobs and motorcycle champion Mike Hailwood.
In difficult conditions, it rained on the Sarthe this weekend of June 1970, the 917 K bearing the race number 22 remained in 3rd place.
In the 50th lap, she gives up.
Hailwood exited the runway after going into aquaplaning.
James Turner - Sports Purpose © 2021 Courtesy of RM Sotheby's
The chassis is sent to the Porsche factory where it is repaired and the number re-struck.
With the chassis number, the 917 reappeared in 1971 with a spider body to participate in the European Interserie Championship.
In 1972, Georg Loos bought it for his Gelo Racing team.
With the changes of regulations, the hour of retirement struck in 1974 and the spider joined the Chandon collection where it remained until 1988. Since then, the 917 has regained its original closed and short body.
Experts at the auction house RM Sotheby's estimated it to be between $ 16 and $ 18.5 million.