F1 - Historic Car of the Week

Historic Car of the Week

Ferrari Beater!

By Josh Barnett
January 30 2005
This week's Historic car is the 1971 Porsche 917K.

The 917 was one of Ferdinand Porsche's most successful racing cars. When entered in the 1969 Le Mans 24hrs it only narrowly missed out on victory, losing to the Ford GT40, but this was to the last year of Ford's reign at Le Mans.

In 1970 Porsche returned to Le Mans in the distinctive Gulf colours. They blitzed the opposition with Richard Atwood and Hans Hermann.

In 1971 the same car but with two different drivers, Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennep won with the fastest ever average speed which still stands today!

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: Flat 12 Air-Cooled

Capacity: 4998cc

Maximum Power: 630bhp @ 8300rpm

Brakes: Aluminium 12-inch vented discs with 4 piston callipers

Wheels: Alloy with centre locking nut

Length: 4.12m

Width: 2.08m

Height: 0.94m

Weight: 800kg (Unladen)

Fuel Tank Capacity: 120l

Fuel Consumption: 5.95mpg