New The Porsche 917 Inward The Hippie Colors
In 1970, it was Martini Racing’s Hans-Dieter Dechent who offered his mill 917-043 for Porsche’s late appointed designer, Anatole Lapine, to decorate.
Departing from the planned white-with-red ‘script’, Lapine penned the swirling ‘hippie’ design, kickoff laying regal as well as hence matt fluorescent greenish on factory-fresh white Porsche paintwork. The operate was completed over the Le Mans week, using only about 1,500 spray cans.
In 1975 Vasek Polak, amongst his unique connections, bought this auto from the factory, the solely consummate 917L always sold past times Porsche.
It was sold equally chassis 917-044, reportedly the auto crashed past times Kurt Ahrens inwards pre-Le Mans tests at the VW examine rail inwards 1970 as well as never later raced.
However, inwards the procedure of a consummate rebuild after buy from the Polak foundation past times the nowadays possessor the aluminum subway scheme chassis showed clear evidence of a long racing history … but absolutely no sign of whatsoever crash damage.
By procedure of elimination it has been deduced as well as verified past times independent experts’ examine that this is 917-043, the famous psychedelic “Hippie Car” of 1970.
That this confusion arose is non surprising; Porsche often swapped chassis numbers to satisfy the needs of customs documentation as well as race entries, making a clear as well as unbroken chassis history to a greater extent than the exception than the rule.
On the debut of the 917 inwards 1969, the long-tail (917L) models proved to last most uncontrollable equally at that topographic point was hence piddling downward force. In fact, they generated aerodynamic elevator at the highest speeds. For 1970, an improved version was raced past times the mill (although the John Wyer squad withal preferred the safety of the 917K) as well as for 1971, after real pregnant evolution inwards the air current tunnel, the definitive 917L was raced past times both mill as well as JW. These cars were hence stable that the drivers could accept their hands off the steering bike at speeds which reached 246 mph.
In social club to compete amongst the Porsche 917 which already had several races nether its belt, yet no successes, Enzo Ferrari sold one-half of his personal stock inwards his companionship to FIAT inwards June 1969 as well as used only about of that coin to stimulate 25 cars powered past times a 5-litre V12 the Ferrari 512, it was introduced for the 1970 season.
By the halt of 1970, Porsche had convincingly dominated the championship, winning nine of the 10 races inwards the entitle (plus another non-championship events), amongst the 917K winning vii of 8 events it was entered in; as well as the 908/03 winning at the Targa Florio as well as the Nürburgring.
Still having only about of their 25 cars remaining unsold, Ferrari offered them to customers at a contend toll - a motion that had hardly been imaginable less than 2 years previously. For Porsche, the master copy production serial of 25 917s could non satisfy demand. Over fifty chassis were built inwards total. An underdog for twenty years, Porsche had turned itself into the novel leader of sports auto racing amongst the 917.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_917
https://www.classicdriver.com/en/article/hippie-porsche-917-021
http://www.rickcarey.com/Catalog%20Descriptions/Christie's%20Porsche%20917LH%20917-043.htm