Cars - Porsche 907

Home > Listing Index > Cars > Porsche 907

	Cars - Porsche 907

The Porsche 907 was a sportscar racing prototype built by Porsche in 1967 and 1968.

1967

The 907 was introduced at the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans and still used the reliable 220 hp Porsche 910 2000cc 6-cyl rather than the 8-cyl. As suggested by Ferdinand Piëch, the position of the driver was moved from the traditional left as in German road cars to the right as this gives advantages on the predominant clockwise race tracks. Also, vented brake disks were used as standard from now. With a new longtail body, the 907s reached 302 km/h (190 mph) on the straight and finished 5th.

As the performance of the big V8-powered Ford had triggered rumors about a future rule change, Porsche started to prepare themselves in summer of 1967. The 907 was equipped with the 270 hp 2200cc 8-cyl which was modified for the rules of the new 3 litre prototype category that was announced in late 1967 to come in effect in 1968. An engine with the full 3000cc would have to be developed first, though, to be introduced in the future Porsche 908.

1968

As from 1968, the big V8 and V12 prototypes of Ford and Ferrari were banned, Porsche hoped to secure the World Sportscar Championship now, and maybe even an overall win at Le Mans, as the competition at Ford, Matra and Alfa Romeo was not prepared with suitable 3000cc prototypes yet, either. Ferrari even sat out the whole of 1968 as a protest against the rule change. The main competitors were 5000cc sportcars Ford GT40 and Lola T70 dating from 1965, plus 2000cc Alfa Romeo 33/2 and Renault-powered Alpine.

Porsche was serious. Unlike the modest earlier years, 4 cars were entered in the 1968 24 Hours of Daytona, supported by 20 mechanics and engineers. Drivers in their hot closed-cockpit cars were fitted with cooling vests developed by NASA. After the #53 car of Gerhard Mitter had a big crash caused by tyre failure in the banking, his teammate Rolf Stommelen supported the #54 driven by Vic Elford/Jochen Neerpasch. When the #52 car of the longtime leaders Jo Siffert/Hans Herrmann dropped to second due to a technical problem, these two also joined the #54 car. The #51 Jo Schlesser/Joe Buzzetta completed the 1-2-3 side-by-side parade finish that the Ferrari Prototypes had shown a year earlier at the banked finish line. The three Alfa Romeo T33/2 were even beaten by a Ford Mustang.

The 12 Hours of Sebring saw a 1-2 win of Porsche 907, by Jo Siffert/Hans Herrmann and Vic Elford/Jochen Neerpasch, with Gerhard Mitter/Rolf Stommelen as well as Ludovico Scarfiotti/Joe Buzzetta being victims of engines failures. These marked the first back-to-back major outright wins for the company, and french journalist (and occasional racer) Bernard Cahier wrote "its hard to imagine that anyone could beat Porsche to the championship this year". The championships hopes in Sportscars and F1 would be significantly changed soon, though.

The next race was the BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch, on April 7 1968. That day, Jim Clark drove Formula 2 to show the new sponsorship logos for Team Lotus at Hockenheimring and got killed, even though he was supposed to drive one of the new Ford F3L P68 prototypes with the Cosworth-Engine, entered by Alan Mann Racing. Bruce McLaren/Mike Spence were second in qualifying behind Jo Siffert/Hans Herrmann, but none did finish. The Ford GT40 of Jacky Ickx/Brian Redman entered by John Wyer was only 5th on the grid but finished ahead of the remaining two Porsche 907.

In races on faster tracks like the 1000km Monza, the modified old Ford GT40 entered by JWA Gulf Team proved to be a strong force. These 5 Liter sportscars were allowed if at least 50 were built. This loophole was opened to let the many existing Lola T70 take part, too. For 1969, the minimum number was lowered to 25, opening unexpected opportunities.

At the twisty Targa Florio, the only privately entered GT40 finished last, but the Alfa Romeo T33/2 were strong. Vic Elford had lost 18 minutes due to a tyre failure in lap 1, but he had a fantastic race in the 907 reminding of Juan Manuel Fangio's legendary 1957 German Grand Prix, beating the old lap record by one minute and winning by 3 minutes, supported by veteran Umberto Maglioli. Hans Herrmann & Jochen Neerpasch came in 4th among four Alfas. In the Porsche advertising poster celebrating the win, only an exhausted yet smiling Elford was shown, not the cars as usual.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Porsche 907 ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Porsche 907; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Cars - Porsche 907

1967

1968

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay