For me, when I hear "917" I think of one adjective, two names and two colours.

Monsterous :

It is indeed one of the adjectives that comes up most often when the 917 is spoken of.

A 12-cylinder, air-cooled, 4.5-litre flat engine, at least 520 horsepower, about 800 kg, a long and a short-bodied version: it has all the hallmarks of the devil !

Outre le nombre de cylindres, il y a 2 principaux changements par rapport au moteur de la 911 : ce Apart from the number of cylinders, there are 2 main alterations compared to the 911 engine: it is not a boxer and the cooling turbine is in a horizontal position above the engine.

It was to become the Queen of endurance racing in the 70/71.

Ferdinand Piëch : the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche (his mother Louise was Ferry Porsche's sister) and former Volkswagen boss.

He was to be in charge of this tremendous project with the aim of finally making Porsche win the overall classification (scratch) of the 24 hours of Le Mans. The goal was achieved in 1970 with the famous n°23 red bodywork and white fillets with Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood.


Vic Elford : a multi-discipline British racing driver like every other driver of that era.

Even if he had only one victory with the 917 (12 Hours of Sebring 1971 with Gérard Larousse), he is, for me, indispensable when talking about the 917.

Indeed, he was one of the few not to be intimidated by the first very unstable version of this beast of a car and was the first to cover the 24-hour circuit at an average speed of over 240 km/h.

Not surprising for someone who had earned the nickname "Quick Vic" a few years earlier in rallying.

Blue / Orange : We can't overlook the two famous blue and orange colors of the Gulf oil tanker, which have enjoyed a choice ambassador in the person of Steve McQueen thanks to his film "Le Mans".

Hervé R.