Cars - Porsche 908

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	Cars - Porsche 908

Porsche 908
Porsche 908

Porsche 908 Coupé
Built by:	Porsche
Years Built:	1968 - 1971
Class:	sports car
Versions:	Coupé, Spyder
Engines:	3,0 l flat engine, 257 kW
Length: (mm)	4.839
Width: (mm)
Height: (mm)
Weight: (kg)	650 kg
Predecessor:	Porsche 907
Successor:	Porsche 936
Similar Models:	Porsche 917, Ferrari 312P, Alfa Romeo 33/3

The Porsche 908 was a racing car from Porsche, introduced from 1967 in the Porsche 906/Porsche 907/Porsche 910 series of models designed under Ferdinand Piech.

As the FIA had announced in 1967 to change of the rules for the World Championship for Marques by limiting the displacement of prototypes to 3000 cc as in Formula One, the new 908 was the first Porsche sports car that had an engine with the maximum size allowed, as the Porsche 907 only had 2200 cc engines. The new 3 L Flat-8 engine produced initially 257 kW (350 hp) at 8400 rpm, as well as some teething problems. Also, being traditionally air-cooled and with only 2 valves per cyclinder, it was still down on power compared to more modern F1 designs which delivered over 400 hp, but were not suited to last in endurance races.

1968

Despite winning the 1000km Nürburgring, the 908 was anything but convincing in 1968. The older and smaller 2200 cc 907 had started the season with dominating wins and later delivered better results than Porsche's first serious attempt in the top prototype category, as old Ford GT40 were winning several races on the faster tracks. As sports cars with up to 5000 cc were still allowed if at least 25 of them were produced, Porsche decided to go one step further and build the required 25 cars of the 5000 cc sports car category - the new Porsche 917. This risky investment should take about a year, though, and the 908 was supposed to deliver results in the mean time.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans were postponed from June to end of September due to political unrest in France, setting up the stage for a showdown between the 908s and the GT40s. For the first time, these Porsche 908 LH Long Tails were the fastest in qualifying and the early stages of the race, but it showed that Porsche had not taken advantage of the additional time to improve the 908. Troubles with the alternator caused delays and even disqualifications as Porsche had misinterpreted the repair rules. Once again, a V8-powered Ford won, a 907 Long Tail came in second in front of the sole surviving 908. In addition, Ford had taken the World Sportscar Championship, too.

1969

For 1969, the prototype rules were changed, and Porsche lowered the weight of the 908/02 spyder by 100 kg, removing the roof and the long tails. Aluminium tube frames were used, with air pressure gauges to check them.

The 1969 24 Hours of Daytona were a disaster for Porsche, as all three 908/02 failed, and two Lola T70 won. At the 12 Hours of Sebring, a Ford GT40 and the new Ferrari 312P-Prototype was faster.

At that time, the more powerful Porsche 917 was introduced in Geneva. The career of the 908 was not yet over, though - it started from now on. The next race was the BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch, were the 908 finally were successful, winning 1-2-3. With additional wins at the 1000km Monza, the Targa Florio, the 1000km Spa and an overwhelming 1-2-3-4-5 at the 1000km Nürburgring, the Championship was secured by the 908/02, despite the Porsche 917 still underperforming.

On the other hand, the all-important 24 hours of Le Mans were again won by a Ford GT40 in 1969, as the 917 had gearbox troubles after leading for many hours. Hans Herrmann came in as a very close 2nd behind Jacky Ickx. Herrmann's 908 low drag coupé was fast on the straights, but near the race end the brake pads wore down, indicated by a light that was introduced with the 908s. The team gambled on not changing the pads, which allowed Ickx to pass under braking.

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Cars - Porsche 908

1968

1969

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