Thursday, March 12, 2009

Porsche legend hits milestone

One of Porsche’s most legendary racing cars of all time has just celebrated its 40th birthday... As the Porsche 917 simply reeked terror during its brief reign as the Terminator of International Sports Car racing between 1970-72, not to mention the unbeatable Can Am 917/10 & 917/30 monstrosities raced by George Folmer and Mark Donohue for Roger Penske...

And these Porsche’s are simply astounding, as I’ve been lucky enough to see the L & M and Sunoco (amongst several others) Can Am behemoths whooshing by at the Monterey Historics, along with watching some ex-CART triple champion named Bobby Rahal lightly toss around Bruce McCaw’s #2 Gulf/Wyer vehicle at Pacific Raceway... Although I suppose the car will always be remembered most fondly for its role with Steve McQueen in the epic movie Le Mans...

Porsche 917 turns 40