Porsche 917 LH at New York Autoshow
Porsche shows a magnificent piece of history in New York

"A long-tail Porsche only just missed its first Le Mans victory in 1969; it crossed the line about 100 metres behind the winner. The following year, Porsche achieved its first Le Mans win outright with a short-tail 917K (for ‘kurz’) and in second place came a long-tail 917LH (for ‘langheck’), driven by Gerard Larrousse and Willi Kauhsen. Pre-race tests at the Paris-based SERA company ensured the long-tail version was the fastest car on the grid in 1970, with an overall drag coefficient of just below 0.3. As a consequence, the measured top speed on the Mulsanne straight was 240mph.

In 1971, the Porsche 917 finished its brief Le Mans career. The three long-tail examples were in the lead for many hours, amongst them the car that now resides in the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, with the number ‘21’. Driven by Vic Elford/Gerard Larrousse, it qualified in second place and ran strongly before retiring. A Porsche 917 won Le Mans that year, but it was the short-tail 917K of Helmut Marko/Gijs van Lennep, which with an average speed of 138mph incidentally set a record for the fastest Le Mans race ever."

Technical Specification

Engine: Twelve-cylinder, horizontally-opposed pistons, air-cooled, two valves per cylinder, four cogwheel-driven overhead camshafts
Output: 600bhp at 8,400rpm
Displacement: 4,907cc
Dimensions: Wheelbase 2,300mm, length 4,780mm, weight 800kg
Performance: Top speed 386km/h (240mph)

Image Credit: Copyright 2012 Drew Phillips / AOL

 

Sick sick sick. BigE is gonna shit a brick.

 

Love it! Amazing car with amazing history.

 

I am still amazed when I think of how capable these cars were in 1970. They were a handful in the beginning but they got them sorted out according to Derek Bell.