Porsche 917

After lying idle for forty years, the Porsche 917 exhibited in the 24 Hours of Le Mans Museum took to the tarmac again on 8 June 2010 at an exceptional demonstration on the 24 Hours of Le Mans circuit, for the greatest pleasure of all car racing buffs. On this occasion, the equally legendary Gérard Larrousse, former pilot of this car and Le Mans winner in 1973 and 1974, took the wheel again to drive back and forth a few times in the straight section in front of the grandstand. A car of superlatives, probably the most spectacular racing car having raced at Le Mans in the twentieth century, it has been dubbed 'competition car of the century'.This phoenix-like rebirth is the end result of painstaking efforts by the Fondation du Patrimoine and Motul working together to safeguard and enhance heritage cars.
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Après quarante années de repos et pour le plus grand plaisir de tous les passionnés de course automobile, la Porsche 917 exposée au Musée des 24 Heures a repris du service le 8 juin 2010 lors d'une démonstration exceptionnelle sur le circuit des 24 Heures du Mans. A cette occasion, le non moins légendaire Gérard Larrousse, ancien pilote de cette voiture et vainqueur au Mans en 1973 et 1974, a (re)pris place au volant pour effectuer quelques allers-retours sur la ligne droite des tribunes. Voiture de tous les superlatifs, probablement le plus spectaculaires des bolides ayant couru au Mans au XXe siècle, elle fut nommée « voiture de compétition du siècle ». Cette formidable renaissance a été rendue possible grâce à l'action de la Fondation du Patrimoine et de Motul, associés au service de la sauvegarde et la valorisation du patrimoine automobile.

[@mercedes-amgenthusiat1915]

I feel you brother, this car is worth more than gold,this car is magical,just looking at it is awesome.

[@MILTMINTERJR]

Awesome video from a 917 lover,GJ!

[@hoops3]

Fantastic video! love hearing it go through the gears from 1:00 to 1:17 epic!

[@johnmcluskey]

This car revolutionised the racing car world. I still consider this the benchmark and I still think it holds the record for the fastest MPH speed for Le Mans.

[@VolatileDice]

my first matchbox car was a porshe 917 loved it

[@AlexBell13]

Fantastic, please make some more videos. :-)

[@ΧΡΉΣΤΟΣΦασουλιωτης]

Porsche 917 nice

[@WiseGuy02]

Hardly anyone there to see it by the looks. A shame, this car deserved better. I hope it makes another run.

[@bobingraysonga]

@hoops3 Roger that! I would love to hear it in person.

[@unionrdr]

Oh yeah, the almighty Langheck! I remember the Austrian entered Langheck that in 1970, was stomping everything in sight until it had ignition trouble. I insisted to the guys at the track when the car was debuted that it was the future of GTP...they said that thing would never work...they were wrong.

[@ottocars]

das vergnügen ist grösser als die angst!

[@ulysse21]

God's car

[@pedro917]

It's such a pity they didn't put the car back in its original livery, which was the pale blue and orange of the Gulf backed Team of John Wyer. In fact, this is the 1971 Le Mans 24H car that ran with #17 (chassis 045), driven by Jo "Seppi" Siffert and Derek Bell. The real Martini 917LH of Elford-Larrousse (chassis 042) is in the Porsche Museum and in the same livery.

[@Zoobie3]

Actually, it's the other way around. The 917 LH in Stuttgart is chassis 045. The way one can tell the difference is by the color of their noses. The real 042 has a blue nose and the car is hand painted. The mock-up 045 has a silver nose and is in pristine, spray-painted condition.

[@pedro917]

Zoobie3 No Zoobie, the original 042 was restored and repainted in 1984. The Wyer 917 (chassis 045) had a light bulb in the middle of the roof, clearly visible on the Le Mans Museum car.

[@thethirdman225]

johnmcluskey The highest speed ever verifiably reached at Le Mans was by Roger Dorchy in a Peugeot WM/88 at 405 km/h (251 mph) in 1988. The following year a Sauber C9 driven by Kenny Acheson was clocked at 400 km/h (248 mph). Despite the legend, the fastest a 917 has ever been clocked at is 362 km/h (224.4 mph) in 1971, which is still plenty fast. And just so nobody gets any wrong impressions, a Ferrari 512M was clocked at 359 km/h (222.6 mph) the same year so the difference wasn't as great as everyone says.
www.mulsannescorner.com/mxspeed.html