Visitors to this year’s Monterey Car Week were able to see the original Le Mans-winning 917 KH up-close, as well as twelve other 917 models.
Seventy years ago, its first class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans laid the foundation for what would become a long and rich success story for Porsche at the famous Circuit de la Sarthe. Seven decades on, the Porsche Heritage and Museum department are celebrating, with a special series dedicated to the sports car manufacturer’s highlights at the iconic race track.
As part of ‘The Porsche success story at Le Mans’, a roadshow with the same name is taking some of the Porsche racing cars that have made history at La Sarthe around the world, starting with a visit to Monterey Car Week for the overall winner from 1971. Fans were able to see the 917 KH on show at Porsche’s hospitality facilities in the centre of Monterey and then at the world-famous Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.
A week catering to the tastes of automotive enthusiasts from all over the world
Every year, Monterey Car Week attracts several thousand visitors to the town on the Californian coast, with the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in the grounds of the nearby Pebble Beach Golf Links golf course being the event highlight. As part of the prestigious competition, the proceeds of which are donated to charity, a panel judges a range of immaculate classic cars from different categories, based on their originality, functionality and elegance. This year, visitors were not only treated to the Porsche 917 KH from the Porsche Museum collection, but twelve other 917 models too.
Monterey is just one of 14 stops on the roadshow, which celebrates Porsche’s various successes at the world’s most famous endurance race. By the end of the year, more than 20 original overall and class winning racing cars will have travelled to 10 countries on three continents. Winners include the Porsche 962 C and the Porsche 919 Hybrid and the places the roadshow will visit include Zandvoort in the Netherlands, the Chinese city of Shanghai, and Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
This year marks 70 years since the 356 SL drove straight to a class victory at the 1951 24-hour race and since then, Porsche has racked up 19 overall wins and 108 class victories at the tradition-steeped endurance race.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained: the 917 KH at Le Mans
The 917 KH bearing the number 22 made history at Le Mans in 1971, when Gijs van Lennep and Helmut Marko crossed the finish line first. The pair covered a distance of 5,335kilometres at an average speed of 222.3km/h, setting two records that would remain unbeaten for 39 years.
The 600 PS racer claimed the Le Mans ‘Index of Performance’ – an award for the most efficient ratio of fuel consumption to displacement – and was the first Porsche to race with a magnesium tubular space frame. This made the car so light that engineers were able to integrate a 55-litre oil tank that would both benefit weight distribution and ensure it tipped the scales at the required 800 kilograms. The 917 KH had a short but stellar career: it was completed on 5 June and won the race eight days later, before retiring.
Heritage Corners and Porsche Moments round off the roadshow
As part of the roadshow, Porsche Experience Centres (PECs) are diving deeper into the brand’s Le Mans story with dedicated Heritage Corners that celebrate the various victories, cars and people involved. The PECs in Le Mans, Atlanta, Franciacorta, Shanghai, Silverstone and Hockenheim have already launched theirs and in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, fans can find out more along the glass partition that provides a view of the workshop inside the Porsche Museum. A selection of impressive Le Mans racers will be on display here too, throughout the roadshow.
Meanwhile, the Porsche Museum’s social media channels will be publishing updates as well as running the Porsche Moments short film series, hosted by Le Mans-winner Timo Bernhard. Motor racing legends such as Walter Röhrl, Hans-Joachim Stuck and engineer Norbert Singer will join Bernhard as he takes viewers on a journey through time, sharing exciting memories from Le Mans over the years, as well as focusing on a different winning car each episode.
The Porsche 917 KH: a Le Mans legend visits Monterey Car Week. Visitors to this year's Monterey Car Week were able to see the original Le Mans-winning 917 KH up-close, as well as twelve other 917 models.
Sold for $14,080,000 against an estimate of $13 million to $16 million. The most highly anticipated lot in the Gooding & Company sale fulfilled expectations by setting a new record for any Porsche at auction. The acclaimed automobile—chassis No.
The Porsche 917 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, once in 1970 and again in 1971. It rose to become a legend among legends and remains a firm favourite among motor racing enthusiasts.
The real 917 Living Legend resides at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. Unlike the model present in-game, it is only a static clay model with no interior.
A total of 19 overall victories, countless class successes and incredible emotions have linked Porsche with the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world's largest and most traditional motorsport event, for more than six decades. On 14 June 1970, Porsche achieved its first overall victory there with the 580 hp 917 KH sports car.
McQueen didn't actually race in the real Le Mans as he had hoped — the film company's insurers put paid to that idea — but he did drive the 917 on screen and in stunt sequences. Not this exact one, though — McQueen actually drives the No. 21 Porsche in the film, while the No.
However, despite not winning at Le Mans, it had captured everyone's attention. Such was the affection in which it was held that the 917/20 gained other nicknames apart from the Pink Pig – including 'Big Berta' and 'The truffle sniffer from Zuffenhausen'. German-speakers know it as 'Die Sau', which means 'The Sow'.
With a chassis designed by Helmuth Bott and engine developed by Hans Mezger – who in the 1980s designed the Porsche-built TAG Turbo Formula 1 engine for the all-conquering McLaren MP4/2 – 25 cars were made for hom*ologation purposes. Eventually, some 65 examples of the Porsche 917 would go on to be built in total.
Porsche turbocharged the flat-12 from its Le Mans-winning 917 to produce a ridiculous 1300 horsepower, embarrassing previously-dominant McLaren in the process. Can-Am's organizers imposed a fuel limit on turbocharged cars for the 1974 season, so Penske and Porsche pulled out.
The 917/30 was the most powerful sports car racer ever built and raced. The 5.374-litre 12 cylinder (90.0 x 70.4 mm) twin-turbocharged engine could produce around 1,100 bhp (820 kW) at 7,800 rpm in race trim. The 917/30 dominated the Can-Am series during the 1973 season.
Like Porsche's road cars, the 917's engine would be air-cooled and horizontally-opposed. A flat-12 made sense, as it was simply four cylinders more than the 908.
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld has a vast collection of Porsches. Perhaps the most interesting car in his collection is 917 chassis 022—one of the cars Steve McQueen used in his movie Le Mans. Seinfeld bought the car in the early 2000s, but hasn't ever told the story of how he came to acquire it—until now.
"The fastest top speed recorded at Le Mans is 405 kmh. This was in 1988 by Roger Dorchy in a WM Peugeot P88. The record was set on the Hunaudieres straight on the section after the Nissan chicane. " (The chicanes were built in 1990.)
Porsche had left Formula One at the end of 1987 after four years supplying TAG-badged turbo engines to the McLaren team, but decided to return two years later with a view to create a V12 engine for the newly introduced 3.5-litre normally-aspirated regulations (hence this engine's designation of 3512).
With a chassis designed by Helmuth Bott and engine developed by Hans Mezger – who in the 1980s designed the Porsche-built TAG Turbo Formula 1 engine for the all-conquering McLaren MP4/2 – 25 cars were made for hom*ologation purposes. Eventually, some 65 examples of the Porsche 917 would go on to be built in total.
The iconic 917K is the absolute most expensive Porsche ever sold in history and an auction. This racecar dominated Le Mans from 1970 to 1971 due to its sheer performance.
Introduction: My name is Kareem Mueller DO, I am a vivacious, super, thoughtful, excited, handsome, beautiful, combative person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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