History in Motion

Porsche Historic Motorsport’s mission is to keep historic race Porsches ready for the track, starting with a special 917K.

“Porsches are meant to be raced, and what we want is to support people racing and enjoying them.”

This is how Jens Walther, president and CEO of Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA) opens the discussion of their latest service segment. PMNA is no longer only about the sales and support of current models in professional series, such as IMSA or Pirelli World Challenge. With over 60 years of history, Porsche has arguably manufactured more racecars than any other automaker and most of them are still out there. But, rather than keep them stored away in static repose, Walther wants them racing.

“Racecars need to race. That’s why they were built and it’s what gives owners the most pleasure,” says Walther. “If you want to honor the car, there is no better way to do it than to have it on track.”

As a result, PMNA now has a Historic Motorsport division operating alongside its current professional track support. Its mission is to preserve and conserve Porsche racecars of years gone by.

Preservation takes the form of maintaining the authenticity and originality of the racecars with the same parts and techniques used in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen and Weissach at the time of their creation. Conservation extends the idea that each car is a piece of living history, meant to be kept in proper working order as it was intended to be run. Unless desired by the owner, the last thing PMNA wants is to restore these cars into precious jewels that discourage driving them properly on the race track.

The 917K currently at PMNA is in the midst of this preservation/conservation process, as Historic Motorsport manager Bill Vincent showed RACER on a recent visit. Having disassembled the car down to the frame, an inspection revealed that some tubes had been repaired during its racing life. So when Vincent discovered a new crack, it was repaired the same way as it was done in 1971, thereby preserving the car’s authenticity.

Klaus Bischof, director of Porsche’s “rolling museum” in Stuttgart emphasizes the importance of maintaining the cars as ”living” things, meaning that even if they are only on display, they should be in proper running order.

“This [the 917K] is a very significant and special car for Porsche,” he says. “It’s the winner of the 1971 Spa 1,000km – the old Spa, where the guys racing these cars were true heroes – but it’s also probably the most original 917 in the world. Not a lot is different on it from when it took part in its final race weekend at Watkins Glen. It will be returned to how it raced in the 1971 Spa 1,000km – the bodywork and all the details.”

Walther is the first to say that there are a variety of excellent shops across North America with the skills to restore historic racing Porsches. The addition of Historic Motorsport to PMNA’s roster isn’t a move to compete directly with these other shops, and he stresses that collaboration with them is essential to the common objective of keeping cars on track. Instead, the Historic Motorsport division will offer owners of Porsche racecars with a significant history a place where the pedigree of the car stays within the “family.”

“We use the same tools and the same techniques as our colleagues in Germany did,” adds Walther. “So bringing your Porsche racecar to Historic Motorsport at the Experience Center when it opens will be bringing it back under Porsche’s roof and that helps to keep it within the ‘family.’ But people who work on their own cars or other restoration shops can also call on us for help, so in that way they are still getting a factory service.”

PMNA Historic Motorsport is also prepared for a “new wave” of historic racecars to service, and first among them will be the LMP2 Porsche RS Spyder that competed in the American Le Mans Series, 2005-’10. Given the car’s technical complexity, only PMNA has the know-how, as well as the parts, to service it for the foreseeable future. The various recent 911 iterations are sure to follow as they age out.

The John Wyer Automotive-run Gulf Porsche 917-015 (ABOVE), which is currently being restored by Porsche Historic Motorsport, heads to victory at the 1971 Spa 1,000km.

Twenty-nine years ago, Porsche Motorsport North America was established to service a wave of Porsches racing on American shores. Now some of those same cars may be coming “home” to get the factory treatment once more.

On this subject, Bischof gets the final word: “This [917K] was a car I would have liked to have restored myself,” he says. “For maybe 20 years, I was thinking, ‘This will be an interesting project to do when I finally have the time,’ but I know that the guys in America will do a very good job on this and I’m happy that they are working on it now. And, it’s nice that they are working on a car that finished its racing career in America, too.”

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When the 1971 Spa 1,000km-winning 917K was pulled from the basement of the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, it was little changed from how it had ended the ’71 Sportscar World Championship season at Watkins Glen. Klaus Bischof removed the spark plugs, turned the engine by hand to ensure it wasn’t seized, put in new spark plugs and hooked it up to a fresh fuel supply. The engine fired on the first try. Today, the PMNA Historic Motorsport crew is painstakingly rebuilding this historic car from the frame up, back to its Spa-winning spec.