Dear FOTers
I received a fax this morning, most of which my springer spaniel ate when
it fell on the floor, the only readable part is, I think, asking about the
cubic capacity of the Porsche 917 racing prototype. I trust the enquiry was
from a FOTer member so here goes.
I worked on ex works Porsche prototypes, mainly the 2 litre 910 (the late
Masten Gregory drove a 910 I helped to prepare in the 1970 Datona 24 hour
race, we finished 'in the money' but only after a one and a half hour pit
stop to repair broken suspension due to a burst front tyre), and the three
litre 908. The 917 flat 12 was first built in 1969, and to answer the
enquiry about cc rating. there were actually three different engines in the
917, the first was a 4.5 litre, the second a 4.9 and the third was a five
litre, which was first raced at Brands Hatch in 1971 (I think). The five
litre developed about 650 BHP and a later version developed over 1050 BHP
with turbocharger. This car (I forget the driver) laped the old Siverstone
circuit (when Woodcote corner was still in it's orriginal form and very
fast) within .25 of a second of the outright F1 circuit record. Forgive me
the indulgence, but the Porsche racing prototypes of that era were true
masterpieces of engineering. Typically, 'experts' said the design of the
air cooled, flat 12 917 engine would never work!!!
Paul
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