Porsche 917: Archive And Works Catalogue (Book Review)

This newly available English language edition is identical to the German one.  Of course that includes the high quality paper, production values, and the comprehensive text by Walter Naher.  As a newly-minted engineer, Naher went to work for Hans Mezger in Porsche's Testing Department in 1969, just as the 917 was coming online.  (Mezger designed the 917's engine.)  Naher went on to a long career at Porsche and Sauber.  But the 917 made the earliest and deepest impressions on him.  This book was a labor-of-love retirement project for him.

The book is dual-purpose: a high-quality illustrated "coffee table book" and an exhaustive history of the 917.  With the English edition, I can instantly understand Naher without resorting to a German-English dictionary.  A Porsche expert told me this is the book on the 917.  Having seen many, I agree.  The chapters on, and pictures of, aerodynamic development (including blind alleys) are fascinating.

Regular readers of this blog know that I have a case of obsessive-compulsive disorder with the 917, and yes, the English edition of this book cleared up my confusion about Wyer-Gulf chassis numbers 004/017 and 026/031.

There is a madcap consistency to 004/017.  004 was not raced by Wyer as 004 (it was raced by Porsche themselves in 1969).  Porsche rebuilt the car and renumbered it 017 before sending it to Wyer for 1970. Nevertheless, John Horsman backnumbered it to 004.  This was his usual practice for cars that had been raced by Wyer and then sent back to Porsche for rebuild.  His purpose was to maintain chassis number and history across all components of a car.  So 004 is consistent with Horsman's practice even though it was never raced as 004 by Wyer.  (Porsche practice with the 917 was to consider a rebuilt car, or a new spare frame used to rebuild a car as a new car.)

026/031 still gives me a headache, even after the Naher sort-out.  026 was built in 1969 as a spare frame (the first number after the 25 homologation cars).  In 1970, it was used to build car 026 for Wyer.  That car was crashed at LeMans and sent back to Porsche for rebuild using frame 031.  Horsman continued to consider the car as 026.  It was returned to Porsche in September 1971 and rebuilt by the factory over the winter as spyder 026 and sold to a customer for Interseries racing.  (The Interseries was Europe's version of the Can-Am.)  In 1973 the spyder was sold to Vasek Polak in Los Angeles, who reconverted it to a coupe in Wyer-Gulf colors, still numbered 026.  Repaired frame 026 was put into Porsche's spares stock as 031 (a switcheroo, by Porsche's standards).  It was used to build a new spyder Interseries customer car, 031.

The confusion over some chassis numbers would be of little importance if the 917, particularly the cars used by professional teams in FIA racing, had not become so iconic, and valuable.  But the confusion, and the reasons for it, demonstrates how sketchy the provenance of a race car can be.  In fact, Porsche and the pro teams it supported kept better records than most.

The Porsche Spyder As A Comedy Prop

1958 Porsche Typ 718 RSK Spyder

It doesn't work for me--I can't stop focusing on the sights and sounds of the car.  But when Jerry Seinfeld summarizes the Spyder in Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee, he nails it.  He did the same in the episode featuring his 911 Carrera RS (...well... maybe Seth Meyers was featured...).

Kevin Hart's reaction to his ride in a Spyder is exactly the same as mine was in 1963.  Here it is:

http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/kevin-hart-you-look-amazing-in-the-wind

Women comedians do better than men in Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee.  They just roll with the car as a prop; they don't react to it as an artifact.  Ali Wentworth is hilarious riffing on the Mercedes 280 SE, as was Sarah Silverman on the XK-E.

Off Topic: Hail And Farewell, Stephen

This guy enjoyed his satire too: Petroleum V. Naseby.  The Cabinet thought it was unfunny
and was right about one thing: Naseby wasn't as funny as Colbert.  Not even Mark Twain is.

Hail and farewell to The Colbert Report, the best American political satire ever.

Slayer (If Tweaked): The Ronin RS 211

This car I get, without explanation from Jay Leno.  (The owner's explanation of the drivetrain in the video gilds the lily.)  I wish I had the skills needed to handle it near its limits and I'd love to drive it.  Once, at 7/10's.  Yes, it's only good for a sunny day in the California canyons, but what a day!

And I know of some people in Dragonland who are thinking about or executing parts of similar builds. Maybe less spendy.  And maybe they'd "turn it down from 11."  After all, as the "King of the Dragon" said in the Road & Track online piece about it (I paraphrase): 1) any more than 300 h.p. is wasted and, 2) the key is to get the front end to stick--then to keep the back end in line.

Here's the vid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UZNDEaDlro

One More From The Ferrari "All Hat, No Cattle" Department

A footnote to my recent post about the Ferrari 312 Formula 1 car: apparently Enzo Ferrari once said "Aerodynamics are for constructors who can't do engines."  Or he might have said "Handling is for constructors who can't do engines."  He put so many cattle... er... ponies... into the 410 S that he needed the biggest hat seen then or since.

Above and below: the 1955-56 Ferrari 410 S.  When Ferrari punched his V-12 out to 4.9 liters, with twin-plug ignition on
the outsides of the heads, it required a 10-gallon Stetson to access it all.  The hood climbed over the fender crowns and
drooped down to the car's beltline.  When, in 1957, Enzo "went the other way" so-to-speak and punched the 3.5 liter
290 MM out to 3.8  and 4.0 liters (the 315 S and the 335 S), he managed to get it all under a conventional hood.
Even though those engines had 4 cams and twin-plug ignition in the centers of the heads.

It's interesting that Enzo Ferrari is quoted so often, a quarter-century after his death.  I recently saw the same quote in two different places by fans of the XK-E, that Enzo said it was the most beautiful car ever made.  The likes Colin Chapman, Ferdinand and Ferry Porsche, Ferruccio Lamborghini, David Brown, and William Lyons should be so lucky.  Of course Enzo knew how to turn a colorful phrase--perhaps better than any other auto magnate except Henry Ford.  Both said some outrageous things, but Enzo had the good sense to confine his pronouncements to cars.

Why You Should Always Be Aware at Deals Gap

This point has been made any times, but is always worth a reminder.  Especially in real-time video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3ifyoxJf1A

Now that the Dragon will be posted "No Trucks Over 30 Feet" at both ends, there should be fewer big rigs coming through.  But we can't depend on zero big rigs.  And I suspect some special-permit long flatbeds will continue to service the dams.

"RFM" (Run For, Or From, Money) Back In The Day

Augie Pabst (on the pole in a Scarab) leans in to talk to Gaston Andrey (Birdcage Maserati) before the start of the "big bore"
race at the Road America June Sprints in 1960.  Roger Penske's Porsche RS-60 is in the background (#6).  Pabst won,
followed home by Dr. Dick Thompson's Sting Ray, Andrey's Birdcage, and Penske's Porsche.  While the first 15 years
of the SCCA's existence weren't professional in the European or Champ Car sense, they weren't always as relaxed as
this picture might suggest.

This blog sometimes waxes nostalgic for the early 1960's days of the SCCA, when talented amateurs could win National Championships.  Well... in truth, the best of them had enough money, or leverage, to get the latest ex-factory cars (reconditioned or allegedly so), to make a title run.  And the best of them had engineering degrees or access to well-equipped shops, or both.  Roger Penske and Augie Pabst, for example.  So the level of competition was at least semi-pro, even if these drivers were not making their livings from racing.  Certainly it was several cuts above SCCA Regionals.

And some drivers had already been chafing under the SCCA's Strictly Amateur policy.  Cal Club (the California Sports Car Club) paid prize money, although SCCA license-holders who entered Cal Club events couldn't accept it.  (Cal Club, centered in Los Angeles, had a running feud with the San Francisco Region of the SCCA, and vice-versa, throughout the 1950's.)  Carroll Shelby and other notables had hats and t-shirts printed with "RFM"--Run For Money--to wear in SCCA paddocks in protest.  The best Americans went to Europe to try to make a living from road racing: Phil Hill, Masten Gregory, Carroll Shelby, Dan Gurney, Richie Ginther.

The SCCA finally relented and set up its own pro series; first Can Am and then Trans Am.  As a spectator, I missed the sturm und drang of the "transition wars" in the SCCA.  Before I went away to college, I enjoyed Regionals and Nationals.  After graduation, I paid more money to watch the pros.  The pros and their cars were faster, and more glamorous, and more shiny.

Was one better than the other?  For me, CART (IndyCar) at Road America in the 1980's and 1990's was the top of the mountain.  Blistering pace from top-ranked drivers in superbly prepared cars.  I still enjoy a fast pro race.  And club racing too.  Road racing has changed a lot in 50 years.  But in some ways, the more things change, the more they stay the same.