Porsche's legendary 917 hits the big 4-0! Happy birthday!

Sam Abuelsamid — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:28:00 EST

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Porsche 917

Forty years ago this week at the Geneva Motor Show, Porsche rolled out what would become one of the most successful racing cars of all time. The Porsche 917 was born of new FIA homologation rules that required a "production" run of at least 25 examples before the car could take to the track. Over the next several years, 917 variants in several different body styles including short- and long-tail closed coupes and open-top "spyder" models would win wherever they went, including Le Mans, Daytona, Sebring and the Can-Am series.

All 65 examples that were ultimately built were powered by an air-cooled flat twelve-cylinder. The first coupes used a 4.5-liter normally aspirated 520 horsepower engine while the penultimate example was the 917/30 spyder. This 1,200-hp turbocharged beast swept Can-Am in the hands of Mark Donohue, bringing the series to a climax in 1973 before the combination of the economy and Middle East oil embargo caused most major teams to withdraw. Seven of the 917s can now be seen in Porsche's new Stuttgart museum.

As a special tribute to the legendary 917, we've also collected some of our own photos of this very special Porsche for your pleasure. Taken at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and at other gatherings, these photos have been collected in a high res gallery available by clicking any of the images below.

Gallery: Porsche 917

Gallery: Porsche 917, 40th Anniversary

[Source: Porsche]

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