As much as I loved the car I had no desire to race it, but the idea of driving one lap ‘just to see’ intrigued me, so I had no hesitation in saying yes. However, by the time I reached Cerda, just eight kilometres from the start, I was already having second thoughts.” – Vic Elford
The Porsche 917 was designed for the tracks of the World Sportscar Championship, most of which were very fast, such as Daytona or Spa. Porsche had developed the ultra-lightweight 908/3 Spyder for the two exceptions to that rule – the Targa Florio and Nurburgring 1000KM. Both were twisty and treacherous courses that the 917 was not built for. But a 917 was tested at the Targa Florio in 1970. This strange moment in Porsche history came from the rivalry between John Wyer’s Gulf team and the Porsche Salzburg team. The Gulf team was supposed to be the Works Porsche team in 1970 – but Ferdinand Piech had his own ideas as usual. The Porsche Salzburg team was his project, named for his mother’s Porsche distribution business, and it was unknown to the Gulf team until a stunning red-and-white 917 came off the trailer at Daytona. The Gulf team was unsurprisingly upset, and the two teams were immediate rivals. In March 1970, Porsche Salzburg brought one of the first 908/3 prototypes, along with a 917K and a 909 Bergspyder, to the Targa Florio route for a test. The test allowed the drivers to get some practice on the 44-mile course, and also to test the viability of the 917. The roads weren’t closed for the test, so a 917 may have blasted past a lucky (or unlucky, depending on your point of view) Sicilian while commuting.
The three Porsches that were tested before the Targa Florio all wore license plates.
The 908/3 was unpainted and looked rough to say the least. The 909 and 917K were painted red, supposedly at the request of the Italian police, who wanted the cars to be more visible. Porsche had entered red cars at the Targa before, apparently to prevent the Italian public from throwing stones at them (Italian cars were usually finished in red). They also wore Gulf stickers, despite Porsche Salzburg’s rivalry with the Gulf team.
The test was one of the very few appearances the 909 Bergspyder ever made outside of the hillclimb circuit. It was the lightest Porsche ever built, at 874 pounds!
Vic Elford, Leo Kinnunen, Rudi Lins, and Pedro Rodriguez drove the cars, and the 917K completed eight laps. Unfortunately, the 917K was hit by a truck on the way back to the garage. The mechanic driving was unharmed, but the 917 was scrapped at the factory.
The red 917K was split in two when it was hit by a truck.
A blue-and-white 917K appeared for the actual race in May, and this car was supposedly numbered chassis 011, even though the crashed 917 was also chassis 011. According to several websites, 011 was scrapped after the crash, but there is no mention of the blue-and-white car. Whether those sources are wrong or if a new car was built and numbered 011, I do not know.
The Gulf team brought three spectacular 908/3s to the Targa Florio, all in playing-card-inspired liveries. Another 908/3 was entered in Porsche Salzburg colors for Vic Elford and Hans Herrmann, much to the dislike of the Gulf team. But Ferdinand Piech then asked Elford to drive a lap in the 917 “as a favor”. Elford was curious and accepted the challenge. The Targa Florio had no qualifying, as the race was timed and not position-based. Each driver was allowed only one practice lap in their racecar, and they had to use a separate car for any other laps of the course. Vic Elford later said: “As much as I loved the car I had no desire to race it, but the idea of driving one lap ‘just to see’ intrigued me, so I had no hesitation in saying yes. However, by the time I reached Cerda, just eight kilometres from the start, I was already having second thoughts.”
The 917 “leapt from corner to corner, and I did virtually the entire lap using second and third gears,” according to Vic Elford.
His lap was 35 minutes and 6 seconds, the fifth fastest time, behind two 908/3s, an Alfa Romeo T33/2, and a Ferrari 512. According to Elford, he was “absolutely shattered” after the lap, and he had to be lifted out of the 917. In the actual race, his 908/3 crashed on the first lap. The Gulf 908/3 of Jo Siffert and Brian Redman won the race, followed by another Gulf 908/3 and a Ferrari 512 S. The idea of driving the 917 on the Targa Florio circuit seems like something a Porsche enthusiast would daydream about. But it actually happened thanks to Ferdinand Piech, who was responsible for many of the wildest stories in Porsche’s history.
The few photos that exist make the story even more fascinating – if only there were a video of Vic Elfords’ lap.
Photo Credits: Targapedia.com
