Porsche · 1968–1971
Porsche 908
The Porsche 908 was a racing car from Porsche, introduced for the 1968 World Sportscar Championship as a 3 liter flat-8-cylinder prototype coupé. Raced successfully by the factory teams also in 1969, 1970 and 1971 as open top spyder versions /02 and /03, the 908 helped to win the World Championships of these years, along with the Porsche 917. With higher mandatory minimum weight for 1972, the nimble underpowered 908/03 were retired by the factory. Sold off to privateers, some old chassis had a comeback in 1975 when fitted with flat-6 turbo engines. The model number 908 was still raced with some success in the early 1980s with Porsche 936 bodywork, an unprecedented career in three decades. The 1968 908 continued the 1964 904, 1966 906 and 1967 907 series of "plastic Porsche" models that had fiberglass bodywork rather than aluminium. Like in the 1950s, Porsche mainly competed for wins in the 2 liter classes, and for overall wins on twisty tracks like Targa Florio and Nürburgring. After large engine cars achieved very high speeds in the 1967 Le Mans 24h race, the FIA announced rule changes for Group 6 prototype-sports cars limiting engine displacement to 3,000 cc, same as in Formula One since 1966. Thus, the 908 was designed by Helmuth Bott (chassis) and Hans Mezger (engine) under the leadership of racing chief Ferdinand Piëch as the first Porsche sports car prototype to have an engine with the maximum size allowed; but that was not the case as it turned out. The previous Porsche 907 only had a 2,200 cc Type 771/1 flat-eight engine, derived from the 1962 1500cc F1 car, developing 270 PS (199 kW). The new 3-litre Type 908 flat-eight produced 350 PS (257 kW) at 8,400 rpm, later 370. Porsche still had ties with Volkswagen, thus it was traditionally air-cooled and with only two valves per cylinder. It had less power compared to more modern water cooled four valve F1 designs which delivered over 400 hp (300 kW), but these were not suited to endurance racing of 6 to 24 hours until the 1970s. The first incarnation of the 908, sometimes referred to as 908 Langheck or 908LH, was a closed coupe to provide low drag at fast tracks. Even though half of the WC races in 1968 were won by Porsche 907 and later 908, some Gulf-Wyer-entered old Ford GT40 Mk.I from 1964 won Le Mans and the Championship. As well over 50 had been made to GT rules of the time, they were allowed to score WC points despite having engine sizes up to 5 liter. This "loop hole" was introduced due to a lack of 3 liter entries after the sudden rule changes; Ferrari remained absent in 1968 in protest, others struggled. When the FIA lowered the minimum number to 25 to include also the Lola T70 and some others in 1969, Porsche decided to built no less than 25 new cars, the Porsche 917 that had a 4.5 liter flat-12 version of the 908 flat-8. The Ferrari 512S followed. After 1969 rules changes, the 908 was mainly raced as the 908/02, a lighter open spyder. It won many races and finally the WC, but the old Gulf-Wyer-Ford again won Le Mans, for a fourth Ford win. A more compact 908/03 was introduced in 1970 to complement the heavy Porsche 917K on twisty tracks that favored nimble cars, like the Targa Florio and Nürburgring. Of the four races in these two seasons, the 908/03, in fact the very same chassis 008, won three, missing out at the 1971 Targa. Sold off to privateers for 1972, various 908s were entered until the early 1980s, often retro-fitted with Porsche 934-based 2.1-litre turbocharged flat-six engines.
Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Generations & variants
Photos
Sources
- Wikidata / Wikipedia profiles — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/cars/Q1630928CC0 / CC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_908CC BY-SA 4.0 · Intro text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1373923609 · retrieved 2026-10-03
- Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.