The iconic Porsche 917 is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and held its birthday bash at Goodwood’s 77th annual Member’s Meeting this past weekend. As Porsche’s first Le Mans winner, the 917 received a special parade around the Goodwood Motor Circuit, where four of the most famous cars in the prototype racer’s lineup set tire on the track once again.
Arguably the most special of the bunch was 917-001, the first 917 prototype ever built. According to Porsche, its restoration was just completed in time for the Member’s Meeting. Chassis 001 is number one of 25 white and green 917s built as per the FIA’s homologation rules.
Three other 917s joined 001, including a Gulf Oil-liveried 917 KH, a Sunoco-clad 917/30 Spyder, and a Vaillant 917/30-001 Spyder. As the name suggests, the 917/30-001 is the first of its kind, and was also just recently restored. With two turbochargers slapped onto the 917’s already mighty 5.3-liter flat-12 engine, the 917/30 Spyder produces 1,200 horsepower despite weighing just 1,874 pounds dry. This allowed it to reach a top speed of 233 mph, landing it a speed record (average of 220 mph) at Talladega Speedway in 1975 at the hands of Mark Donohue.
The lucky people to wrestle these historic race cars around the Goodwood Circuit this weekend were Mark Webber, Derek Bell, Neel Jani, and the man that gave Stuttgart its first Le Mans win: Richard Attwood.
The 77th Goodwood Member’s Meeting spanned the weekend of April 6-7, and tickets sold out immediately. If you couldn’t make it to the event, all of these cars will be on display at the Porsche Museum as part of the 917 exhibit from May 14 to Sep. 15. You can also watch the entire 917 on-track demo below.
