The First Porsche 917 from 1969 Has been Restored, But The Car Was Never Raced
The first Porsche 917 from 1969 has been restored, but the car was never raced. Even with this being a significant fact, the car is hugely important to Porsche. The history of 917-001 may not have been a Le Mans success, but one of testing and presentation. This was the car that was first shown as Porsche’s attempt at Le Mans domination.
The first 917 was the beginning of a seismic shift in motor racing. Providing Porsche the first Le Mans victory and an unparalleled racing career. The 917 was a Group 4 racing car designed to meet the regulations for sports prototype racing. To meet these rules, some 25 cars had to be produced. This was the first of those.
Chief designer Hans Mezger was resposible not just for the fabulous twelve-cylinder engine, but the whole car.
The first time that 917-001 was displayed was at the Geneva motor show in 1969. The body painted in white with a green section on the nose and tail. Later at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt that year had a different look. The car was repainted in white and orange.
When Porsche handed the running of its racing activities to the J.W. Automotive Engineering team, run by John Wyer, 917-001 was re- painted again. This time in the brand colours of US oil company and sponsor, Gulf. The iconic light blue and orange.
After winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970, Porsche reworked 001 into the short-tail version as driven by Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood in September 1970. When the car was given to Porsche Salzburg in October that year it was showing the colours of the Le Mans winner. Sharing the same winning number of 23.
You can see Porsche’s choice for the 917 liveries in the Porsche Top 5. A Colourful mixture Of The 917 Models Liveries article.
Restoration of 917-001
Restoration of the 917-001 to its original 1969 condition took over a year. Porsche museum mechanics, former technicians and engineers from Zuffenhausen and Weissach were involved. Working with the Historical Archives and partner companies on the project.
This was a particularly difficult challenge. The car had gone through multiple transformations. during its time as a test and presentation vehicle.
It was improtant to conserve and reuse as much of the car’s original materials wherever possible.
Much testing was done to determine which parts of the body materials were original and could be reused. Material analysis and comparison with historical design drawings and photographs to reconstruct the missing parts.
Using sate of the art 3D technology and the original drawings, it was possible to reproduce the body parts for the front and rear sections. The rear section of the aluminium space frame was also restored with the aid of original documents. The restoration was completed exactly 50 years after the original manufacture date.
The 917-001 was presented to the Porsche Museum, restored to its original condition as in 1969. Has to be worth the visit just to see it.
Part of the celebration of the completed restoration was to send the car to back to Weissach and have a go on the Porsche test track. It looks very much at home there.
Thanks to Porche AG for the use of the fantastic images.