HOLY GRAIL! (C-26)

[ringo]

Yeah, whatever the gas was it was flammable - because the other check was for the mechanics to go around the car when it was in the pits and test all the welds/joints with a cigarette lighter!

 

[beepbeep]

Ahh.....the good old days before Heath and Safety

 

[ringo]

Sorry for highjacking the post... but I couldn't resist a great Frank Gardner quote on the early 917's. These blokes really were heroes! Imagine a laconic Australian drawl when you read it...

I got a call from Porsche, and the money they were offering was certainly good enough to cross a strip of water, and get in this thing. I think the reason they bestowed this honour on me was that every factory 917 driver was in hospital at the time...

"David Piper was my co-driver, and I remember he did one lap in practice, and was all for going back to England! But I pleaded with him to stay because the money was right. This was one of the first 917s, with an alloy chassis frame, which was gas-filled. There was a big gauge in the cockpit measuring the gas pressure, and that was to keep you informed of the chassis's condition. If the gauge zeroed, they said, it meant that the chassis was broken, and I should drive mit care back to the pits.

"I decided that if it zeroed, I wasn't going to drive it mit care anywhere. I was going to park the bastard there and then, pick up my Deutschmarks and get home to Mum...

"The thing flexed so much that the actual position of the gear lever used to change - you'd reach for where it had been the last time you used it, and it wasn't there!

"Then there was the engine. You had about 300 horsepower at 5000 revs - and then at 5100 you picked up another 300. So it was a bit of a delight, really, and its handling... the computer had told them that nine-inch rims would do the job, and make the car very quick in a straight line - but the computer wasn't strapped in the bloody seat up in the Eifel mountains, where you tend to get the odd corner...

"Like I always said, I never wanted to be the quickest bloke in motor racing - I just wanted to be the oldest. And that car was certainly going to interfere with those plans..."

This is my favourite motor racing quote... RIP Frank.

 

[kaiser]

Sorry for highjacking the post... but I couldn't resist a great Frank Gardner quote on the early 917's. These blokes really were heroes! Imagine a laconic Australian drawl when you read it...

I got a call from Porsche, and the money they were offering was certainly good enough to cross a strip of water, and get in this thing. I think the reason they bestowed this honour on me was that every factory 917 driver was in hospital at the time...

"David Piper was my co-driver, and I remember he did one lap in practice, and was all for going back to England! But I pleaded with him to stay because the money was right. This was one of the first 917s, with an alloy chassis frame, which was gas-filled. There was a big gauge in the cockpit measuring the gas pressure, and that was to keep you informed of the chassis's condition. If the gauge zeroed, they said, it meant that the chassis was broken, and I should drive mit care back to the pits.

"I decided that if it zeroed, I wasn't going to drive it mit care anywhere. I was going to park the bastard there and then, pick up my Deutschmarks and get home to Mum...

"The thing flexed so much that the actual position of the gear lever used to change - you'd reach for where it had been the last time you used it, and it wasn't there!

"Then there was the engine. You had about 300 horsepower at 5000 revs - and then at 5100 you picked up another 300. So it was a bit of a delight, really, and its handling... the computer had told them that nine-inch rims would do the job, and make the car very quick in a straight line - but the computer wasn't strapped in the bloody seat up in the Eifel mountains, where you tend to get the odd corner...

"Like I always said, I never wanted to be the quickest bloke in motor racing - I just wanted to be the oldest. And that car was certainly going to interfere with those plans..."

This is my favourite motor racing quote... RIP Frank.

superb

 

[Dr S]

For the record, the 917 was THE most powerful racecar EVER to race in a non-Formula 1/Dragster type event. It produced 1,400 to 1,500 horsepower from a 5.0L turbocharged powerplant and keep in mind it did this for 24 HOURS.

Don't want to be an anorak but a few corrections. The Can-am Turbo 917's were around 1000bhp, higher figures were achieved but the engines went bang. They were never run for 24hrs in turbo form and the 5 litre engine would produce between 460-550bhp depending on tune. Le mans and Daytona 24 engine usually ran at the lower end. The cars were outlawed from sportscar racing and were then converted for Can-am as it was a free series with only two rules- the car had to have wheels and a driver.
You were spot on with the Mulsanne top speed though- they pulled 246mph in long tail spec during testing in 1970.

 

[MJN]

For the record, the 917 was THE most powerful racecar EVER to race in a non-Formula 1/Dragster type event. It produced 1,400 to 1,500 horsepower from a 5.0L turbocharged powerplant and keep in mind it did this for 24 HOURS.

Don't want to be an anorak but a few corrections. The Can-am Turbo 917's were around 1000bhp, higher figures were achieved but the engines went bang. They were never run for 24hrs in turbo form and the 5 litre engine would produce between 460-550bhp depending on tune. Le mans and Daytona 24 engine usually ran at the lower end. The cars were outlawed from sportscar racing and were then converted for Can-am as it was a free series with only two rules- the car had to have wheels and a driver.
You were spot on with the Mulsanne top speed though- they pulled 246mph in long tail spec during testing in 1970.

And...remove anorak!

 

[ringo]

Don't want to be an anorak but a few corrections. The Can-am Turbo 917's were around 1000bhp, higher figures were achieved but the engines went bang. They were never run for 24hrs in turbo form and the 5 litre engine would produce between 460-550bhp depending on tune.

C'mon fella's this isn't to do with numbers... What matters is the fact that the only thing protecting you from an Armco barrier is a bit of fibreglass and a small piece of aluminium tubing.

 

[ededwards]

Blimey, have I logged on to www.retrocarsandanoraks.com

 

[Dr S]

Blimey, have I logged on to www.retrocarsandanoraks.com

oh cheers Ed, that's not a real website- you got me all excited with that link. :roll:

 

[cyfa2809]

wow! im astonished at the price but also glad to be involved in a site so full of history. theflyingwelshman is on here (whoever he is?) and i bet a few other famous riding people, full of knowledge and how mtb has evolved. i am too young to know about frames that far back but im certainly the next generation of retrobiker. i think when pieces of history like this turn up for sale there should be a collective of retrobikers to bid on it, start a museum. i think it would be a very good idea if everyone chipped in, im sure a lot of people would agree. whatever people put in would be like your share in the museum. hows about it anyone?