50 years ago, Porsche made the 917 Le Mans prototype racer road-legal for a special, wealthy customer. Now, it is going to do the same with the 963 Le Mans prototype racer but more details will be announced in June, probably around the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans.
While details about the road-legal Porsche 963 remain a mystery till June, let’s take a look at the road-legal 917 from 1975. Revealed on April 28, 1975, this particular 917 was developed for Gregorio Rossi di Montelera, popularly known as Count Rossi.
The road-going 917, with the chassis number 30, was finished in Martini Silver, had rudimentary exhaust mufflers fitted along with additional mirrors, indicators, a horn and a spare tyre to make it more street worthy. The seats was re-finished in tan leather from luxury apparel brand Hermès, while the rest of the interior (doors, dashboard, roof liner) is finished in a corresponding suede. It retained the wooden gear lever and drilled, lightweight keys from the racecars.
The Porsche 963 is quite a technical marvel in itself. Its powered by a 4.6-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine coupled with an electric motor, churning out 697 bhp (combined). How Porsche will manage to turn it into a road-legal car will be challenging but interesting to watch too.
