Three Porsche Taycans with bright colors reproduced to replicate those of the most famous racing 917s that have made the history of Motorsport of the Stuttgart company, are the protagonists of a traveling tour throughout the Peninsula.
A white and green livery that recalls the first prototype of the 917, a red and white like the one that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time and the last, pink, like the one that went down in history with the nickname of Pink Pig .
The inaugural stage of the Taycan Tour took place on the Lazio coast, the setting for the final event of the Porsche On Board tournament - the sports competition dedicated to kitesurfing and hydrofoil enthusiasts.
Porsche electric scenographies have also colored the streets of Forte dei Marmi, Florence, Rome, Bari, Naples, Bologna and Modena.
In the next few weeks they will pass through 7 other Italian cities: Mantua (24/09), Padua (26/09), Vicenza (29/09), Verona (01/10), Varese (03/10), Turin (06/10 ) and Milan (08/10).
The protagonists of the Tour are two of the three Taycan versions available on the Italian market, the 530 HP 4S (571 with Performance plus) and the top of the range 761 HP Turbo S.
The history of these models is part of Porsche's annals: on the evening of 10 March 1969, a few months after the first sketches by Hans Mezger, the first Porsche 917 with chassis number 001 was completed. Only two days to go before the presentation press conference. of the new Group 4 sports cars at the Geneva Motor Show, scheduled for 3:00 pm on 12 March.
Not long after, on April 21, the 25 units required by regulation were finally completed and the 917 received homologation certification to compete.
In fact, chassis 001 never took to the track.
On June 14, 1970 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans Porsche scored the first of 19 victories in the overall standings.
After exactly 4,607.81 kilometers and 343 laps the drivers Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood first crossed the finish line in the red and white Porsche 917 KH (short tail) of the Porsche Salzburg team with the race number 23. Second place by Gérard Larrousse and Willy Kauhsen with the long tail 917 Martini followed closely by Rudi Lins and Helmut Marko at the wheel of the 908/02 made the Porsche triumph perfect.
Known as the Pink Pig, the 917/20 holds a special place among the various versions of the 917. It was built in a single example to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the intent of combining the advantages of the long tail. and short.
It was immediately considered an ugly racing car: squat and less harmonious than the other 917s. Porsche designer Anatole Lapine decided to make it even more extravagant by opting for a pink body, subdividing and labeling the parts of the car as if they were the butcher-style cuts of meat.
At the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans he never crossed the finish line but became one of the most famous incarnations of the 917.
