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The highlight of this August’s RM Sotheby’s auction in Monterey, California, will be a legendary 1970 Porsche 917K, which is expected to fetch between US$16 million and US$18.5 million.
The vehicle, which has the chassis number 917 031/026, was created as one of the three cars that the JW Automotive Engineering/Gulf Racing team entered in the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans competition. The 24 Hours of Le Mans, an endurance event for sports cars, has been going on every year since 1923 close to the French town of Le Mans.
In contrast to its sibling cars’ orange centerline stripes, this car’s entire roof was painted orange all the way to the beltline. British racing drivers are carrying race number 22.
made it about 49 circuits before the race’s 50th lap collision forced the car to stop.
According to RM Sotheby’s, the factory repaired the chassis after Le Mans and then restored it into a Porsche 917 Spyder with lightweight open bodywork for use in the 1972 and 1973 European InterSeries Championship.
The Porsche was purchased in 1974 by a well-known French race car driver and heir to the Moet et Chandon wine company. He retained it until 1988, when he sold it to an American collector.
According to RM Sotheby’s, the car’s present owner, whose name was not made public, paid roughly $4 million for it in 2010 and has subsequently restored it to its iconic and original Gulf-liveried Le Mans coupe specifications.
In a statement, RM Sotheby’s worldwide head of auctions said. It will always be a movie star in its own right since it represents the very best of motorsport history and tradition from a time of iconic cars and drivers.
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Today, how many Porsche 917 are there?
A 1969 Porsche racing car that will be sold at auction could fetch a record price thanks to its outrageous rarity, Hollywood filmography, and significant historical significance.
The Santa Monica-based auction firm Gooding & Co. said on Monday that a 1969 Porsche 917K would be featured in its yearly Pebble Beach auction. Only 25 of these racers were made, and this particular one was prominently displayed in Steve McQueen’s 1971 movie “LeMans.”
Although Gooding declined to reveal the anticipated sale price, less expensive 917s with pedigree far inferior to that of this particular model have privately sold for between $10 million and $15 million. When the last hammer falls in August, chassis 917-024 may surpass the $20 million mark, making it the most expensive Porsche ever to be sold at auction.
In a statement, David Gooding, president and creator of Gooding & Co. said, “The 917-024 is one of the most significant and recognizable racing vehicles ever to come to public auction, and we’re happy to exhibit the legendary Gulf 917 Porsche.”
The 917 was a brand-new Porsche project that was created in 1969 for a variety of competitions with the goal of winning the most prestigious of them all, the 24 Hours of LeMans. The automobiles were constructed on a revolutionary aluminum tubular chassis that was compressed with gas to see if it ever fractured.
Midway through the 1969 season, Porsche switched the 917s’ flat 12-cylinder, 4.5-liter engine for a more potent 5.0-liter unit. The bigger engine in the Gooding 917 today generates about 560 horsepower and sends it through a five-speed manual transmission to the rear wheels.
The first of its sort to compete in a race in 1969, this particular 917 variation was constructed in 25 copies. It was a test and development car after its original competition. The 24 Hours of LeMans were eventually won by 917s in 1970 and 1971.
Jo Siffert, a Swiss Porsche racer, later purchased the vehicle and lent it to Steve McQueen for the filming of “LeMans,” which many people believe to be the best racing movie ever filmed.
The cult classic movie is famous for having been shot on site at the 24 Hours of LeMans in 1970 utilizing cameras fitted to several Porsche 917s that were actually taking part in the event.
According to David Brynan, a specialist at Gooding & Co., the automobile was owned by Siffert’s estate after his death in 1971 until 1978, when it was sold to a French collector and kept outside of Paris until 2001.
The car was later discovered and purchased by the current owner, who completely restored it to bring it to its present race-ready condition. On August 16 and 17, Gooding & Co. will offer it along with a plethora of other high-end vehicles.
Brynan remarked, “It’s not just another car; it’s actually a pop cultural icon. “We believe it is a vehicle that can appeal to collectors who are into art or cinema history in addition to car enthusiasts. We’re interested to watch how things progress with that and see who eventually ends up with this Porsche because it has such a wide audience.”
When was the Porsche 917 manufactured?
The Porsche Museum is marking the milestone birthday with plans to restore the first 917 ever produced to its original condition, as it was when it was initially shown 50 years ago, at the Geneva Motor Show, when it made its debut on March 12, 1969.
A Porsche 917 weighed how much?
917 Development for Porsche The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, also known as the FIA, established a new class of competition for sports vehicles having engines no larger than 5 liters and weighing at least 1,760 pounds in 1968.
whose Porsche 917K is it?
Surprise! $24 Million Steve McQueen’s Porsche 917K from “Le Mans” is the newest star of the Brumos Collection. Introducing a collection in Jacksonville, Florida, featuring a showpiece vehicle from the 1971 film
There are how many Porsche 918s?
Of course, the hype was fully justified. The sleek two-door, which was painstakingly engineered, has a 4.6-liter V-8 that produces 887 horsepower and 944 ft lbs of torque. This enables it to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in a jaw-dropping 2.5 seconds and achieve blazing speeds of up to 214 mph.
Only 918 Spyders, as the name suggests, were produced in 2015. Only 230 of those are thought to have had the Weissach package. Porsche collectors prize this particular black beauty in particular because it is one of these uncommon models.
The Weissach configuration, so named after the brand’s motorsport hub in Germany, decreased the Spyder’s combat weight by about 100 pounds in order to enhance its aerodynamics. Utilizing exposed carbon-fiber highlights, magnesium alloy center-lock wheels, ceramic wheel bearings, titanium chassis bolts, and lightweight Alcantara inside trim, the weight was reduced.
2015 saw the delivery of the 13th Spyder off the production line to its one and only owner. It has a little over 12,400 kilometers on it and has gotten routine maintenance from Porsche to maintain it in good shape.
This is, quite simply, the ultimate Porsche, according to the auction house, who describes it as “an intoxicating combination of technology, legacy, and mind-bending performance.”
You’ll pay for all of that. At the June 23–30 RM Sotheby’s Open Roads auction, the four-wheeler is anticipated to sell for between $1.14 million (EUR950,000) and $1.38 million (EUR1,150,000). Better organize your bids.
A Porsche 917 can go how fast?
The 917 received a novel 4.5-liter, flat 12-cylinder engine with 520 bhp, a 0-60 time of around 2.5 seconds, and a top speed of about 250 mph. In 1970. Gulp. A lightweight glassfibre chassis with a tubular aluminum engine was buried into it, and later cars used magnesium instead. This holds true for the scaled-down variation. Kinda. The 163cc pro-kart Honda engine produces 4.8 horsepower and is fueled by a carburettor. The lightweight tubular chassis is composed of fiberglass, just like the original.
What materials make up a Porsche 917 chassis?
To meet the minimal weight requirement of 800 kg, the prototype 908 sports car receives a powerful lightweight construction that serves as the design basis for the new Porsche 917. As a result, the 917 boasts a 45-kilogram lightweight chassis made of aluminum tube. Even with the noticeably longer 12-cylinder engine, the 908 wheelbase is preserved at 2,300 mm by moving the cockpit and driver’s seat further forward. In the front and roof parts, as well as along the door and window frames, the 917’s outer skin, like that of the 908, is made of fiberglass laminate and is solidly bonded to the aluminum frame.
Hans Mezger’s layout for the 917 was designed from the beginning to be a basic version with an optional long-tail section to be mounted separately; the rear extension (long-tail), which is included in the homologation specifications and used for the high-speed stretches at Le Mans, can be easily detached for use on other tracks, converting the 917 into a short-tail version.
One who operated a Porsche 917.
The Porsche 917 is one of the most famous and well-known race vehicles ever. In addition to being the vehicle that gave Porsche its first overall victory at Le Mans, the 917 gained notoriety because to Steve McQueen, who drove one of them in the film “Le Mans.”
There is no need to keep summarizing the highlights of the 917 and “Le Mans” because there are innumerable articles, postings, books, and movies about them. However, some specifics, like the 917 chassis numbers, are still fascinating to talk about. Particularly, the chassis numbers used during the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as those on the filming of the 1971 movie “Le Mans.”
Although various 917 chassis are associated with Steve McQueen and the film “Le Mans,” it isn’t always clear which 917s really competed in the race and which were filmed exclusively for the film. This is due to the fact that parts of the racing moments in the movie are from the actual race, and for the sake of filming “Le Mans,” the race liveries were duplicated to several 917 chassis. You shouldn’t assume that the 917 you’re looking at is the one Steve McQueen drove or even one that was on the movie set just because it has a Gulf Oil livery. For instance, the Porsche Museum has for years displayed 917-001 in the red and white Salzburg No. 23 livery that won the 1970 Le Mans, despite the fact that 917-001 has never previously raced in this livery. In that livery, the 917-023 race car won the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans. It is not rare to display a chassis in a different livery, although normally there is no mention of the livery vs. chassis distinction in signs or other written materials.
For present and future 917 fans, this article should serve as a useful resource. However, it will only cover a small portion of the total 917 chassis history and will only cover a brief but focused history of each of the individual chassis listed below. By the conclusion, you will be able to identify individual vehicles in the film “Le Mans” and know which Gulf Oil liveried 917s competed in the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans compared to which ones were utilized in the production!
Prior to the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans, 917-017/004 was in the pits. Picture credit: Michel Guilloux
Why is the Porsche 917 so well-known?
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The German automaker Porsche created the sports prototype race vehicle known as the 917. Porsche’s first overall victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970 and 1971 came courtesy of the 917. The Type 912 flat-12 engine, which has a displacement of 4.5, 4.9, or 5 liters, is what gives the 917/30 Can-Am variant its acceleration times of 2.3 seconds for 0 to 60 mph (100 km/h) and 5.3 seconds for 0 to 124 mph (200 km/h)[citation needed]. The top measured speed for the long tail Langheck version was 386 km/h.
The vehicle made an appearance in the 1971 Steve McQueen film Le Mans. The vehicle McQueen drove in the movie was auctioned off in 2017 for a record-breaking $14 million dollars for a Porsche. Porsche planned a special celebration at the Goodwood Festival of Speed for the 917’s 40th birthday in 2009.