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Porsche · 1967–1968

Porsche 907

Porsche 907
Photo: Stahlkocher · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source ↗

The Porsche 907 is a sportscar racing prototype built by Porsche for the 1967 World Sportscar Championship season to succeed the Porsche 910. It was raced by the factory also in 1968, and was fitted with flat-6 or flat-8 engines with 2000cc or 2200cc, to be entered in both prototype classes.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Predecessor: Porsche 910 · Successor: Porsche 908

All Porsche 907 data: UK builds, safety, recalls, model years →

1967

The 907 was introduced late in the 1967 World Sportscar Championship at the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans. Following a suggestion by Ferdinand Piëch, the position of the driver was moved from the traditional left (as in German road cars) to the right as this gives advantages on the predominant clockwise race tracks. With a new longtail body, the 907s reached 302 km/h (190 mph) on the straight, even though all used the reliable 220 hp Porsche 910 2000cc 6-cyl rather than the more powerful but complicated 8-cyl Type 771. Vented brake disks were being used as standard from that point on. The best Porsche 907 finished 5th, beaten only by pairs of 7.0l V8-powered Ford GT40 Mk.IV and 4.0l V12 Ferrari 330P4 with much bigger engines. As the record-breaking performances of the Ford GT40 Mk.IV prototypes, fastest Le Mans race lap at 238.01 km/h (147.89 mph) and Winner's Average Speed 218.04 km/h (135.48 mph), had triggered rumors about a future rule change, namely engine sizes getting limited to 3 litre as in Formula 1 since 1966, Porsche started to prepare themselves in summer of 1967. The 907 was equipped with the enlarged 270 hp 2200cc Type 771/1 8-cyl which was then modified for the rules of the new 3 litre prototype category that was announced in late 1967 to come in effect already for the 1968 World Sportscar Championship. With the hitherto dominant cars retired, all manufacturers had the chance to use a 3 litre engine both in F1 and Sportscars endurance racing, but this proved to be impractical even in the 1970s. A Porsche engine with the full 3000cc would have to be developed first, though, to be introduced in the future Porsche 908.

1968

From 1968, the big V8 and V12 prototypes of Ford and Ferrari were banned, and Porsche hoped to secure the World Sportscar Championship and maybe an overall win at Le Mans as the competition at Ford, Matra and Alfa Romeo was not prepared with suitable 3000cc prototypes yet, either. Ferrari even sat out the whole of 1968 as a protest against the rule change. Apart from the former 2000cc-class rivals Alfa Romeo T33/2 and Renault-powered Alpine, 5000cc sportscars were also permitted to enter if at least 50 of them had been built. This loophole was intended to fill the grid with cars dating mainly from 1965, like Ford GT40 and Lola T70. Porsche was serious. Unlike during the rather modest earlier years, four cars were entered in the 1968 24 Hours of Daytona, supported by 20 mechanics and engineers. The drivers wore cooling vests developed by NASA as the oil-cooler and the hot oil pipes caused heat in the closed cockpit. After the #53 car of Gerhard Mitter had a big crash caused by tyre failure in the banking, his teammate Rolf Stommelen supported the #54 driven by Vic Elford/Jochen Neerpasch. When the #52 car of the longtime leaders Jo Siffert/Hans Herrmann dropped to second due to a technical problem, these two also drove on the #54 car in case theirs broke down. Due to this, five pilots won the race, and two of them scored also second. The #51 Jo Schlesser/Joe Buzzetta car completed the 1-2-3 side-by-side parade finish that the Ferrari prototypes had shown a year earlier at the banked finish line. The three Alfa Romeo T33/2's were even beaten by a Ford Mustang. The 1968 12 Hours of Sebring saw a 1-2 finish for the Porsche 907, with the Jo Siffert/Hans Herrmann car winning and the Vic Elford/Jochen Neerpasch car finishing 2nd. The Gerhard Mitter/Rolf Stommelen and Ludovico

1969–1971

During the following seasons, several 907s were entered by privateers, scoring occasional top-10 finishes, with a podium at Monza in 1969 and a 7th at the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans being the more remarkable results.

Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.

Specifications

name
Porsche 907
Designer
Ferdinand Piëch
Production
1967-1968
Predecessor
Porsche 910
Successor
Porsche 908

Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Measured facts from Wikidata (CC0). Check the linked sources for citations.

Sources

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