1970 Porsche 917 Re-Creation – Today’s Le Mans Tempter

By: Alex Affat, Unique Cars magazine

Date: 15.06.2018

Le Mans is this weekend, pretend you’re Steve McQueen in this ripper replica

The ACTUAL Porsche 917K that appeared in Steve Mcqueen’s Le Mans cult film sold last year for a touch over AUD$18.8 million dollars, and while this one is listed as POA, we’re fairly confident it’ll be up for a bargain by comparison.

The Porsche 917 gave Porsche their first victory at the Le Mans 24, with wins in 1970 and 1971 consecutively.

They were powered 4.5lt, 4.9lt, or 5.0lt flat-12 engines, and are one of the most iconic prototype racers ever.

This faithful, and very convincing replica, is modelled after the 1970 917K (Kurzheck, meaning ‘short-tail’ in German) that appeared in Steve McQueen’s Le Mans movie.

The short-tail denotes its shortened, upswept rear deck. In 1970, after the first 917s were produced in 1969, they was deemed unstable and almost un-driveable at high speeds. Following a three-day test session, some gaffer tape, and some aluminium sheet – the new short-tail rear end was developed, and put into production back at the factory. That year, the 917K won 7 out of its 10 races, debuting at the 24 hours of Daytona.

This replica’s body is reportedly moulded from a real 917, and possesses the flat-six from a Porsche 964 mated to a Porsche 930 gearbox capable of 313kW. The car features a hydraulic front lift system, a bolt in cockpit rollbar, six-piston front brakes and four-piston rears.

The car comes with its own hydraulically operated trailer, four brand new Avon racing tyres, a spare windscreen and various spare parts.

As far as replicas go, this is a tremendously well executed example. With the only subtle differences we can spot being the rear wheel tubs and the slightly different tail lights.

The car is located in Perth, and would be a very unique track toy for the discerning collector/racer.

Price is POA, you can check out the full listing here!

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