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Ultimately, this triumph layed the basis for a total of 19 overall victories that Porsche has achieved at the Sarthe to date, making the brand the most successful in the French endurance classic.
With the 917 model, Porsche not only created its first winning car, but also a now legendary car that became internationally known. This was not least due to the Steve McQueen film “Le Mans”, in which the 1970 Porsche 917 in Gulf design was one of the main actors. Minichamps has released this and four other 917s in an impressive scale 1:12 and in limited numbers.
Before Porsche's first victory, Ford was able to prevail for the last time in 1969 with the legendary GT40. Porsche had already sent the then new 917 into the race and was immediately faster than the competition, but also less stable and therefore still had no chance.
That changed in 1970. Porsche's competitor Ferrari had to accept early retirements and the other manufacturers were not fast enough, which meant that Porsche had the race in hand early on. Shortly before the halfway point of the race, the red and white 917 driven by Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood took the lead and from there drove unchallenged to its debut victory. As a result, Hans Herrmann ended his impressive career, as he had promised his wife before leaving for Le Mans if he won.
The winning car was not part of Porsche's factory line-up. It came from Louise Piëch, the daughter of Ferdinand Porsche, and her Salzburg Porsche Holding. The car was delivered by Porsche ready to race, but the team around Louise Piëch carried out the work themselves.
The works cars were used by the British John Wyer team. Although none of them saw the checkered flag, the 917 in Gulf design with starting number 20 still achieved world fame. The car driven by Jo Siffert and Brian Redman became the secret star of Steve McQueen's film “Le Mans” and is probably one of the most famous racing cars of all time.
Pedro Rodriguez and Leo Kinnunen started in the sister car number 21 with a similar color scheme. They also couldn't finish the race.
In addition to these three cars from Le Mans, Minichamps has two other models in its range. During the heyday of the Porsche 917, the 24 Hours of Le Mans was also part of the World Sports Car Championship, in which the car was also successful in other famous races. Before the Le Mans victory, Pedro Rodriguez, Leo Kinnunen and Brian Redman had already won the 24 Hours of Daytona - also in Gulf design. The following year, Vic Elford and Gérard Larrousse triumphed at the 12 Hours of Sebring with a 917 in Martini colors.
All models measure an impressive 35 centimeters at a scale of 1:12. They also have a true-to-original cockpit replica, steerable front wheels and are exclusively limited to ck-modelcars. The red and white Le Mans winning car is limited to 333 examples, the Gulf 917 with the number 20 to 444 units and the second Gulf car with the number 21 as well as the vehicles from Daytona and Sebring to 200 units each.
If you would like to get even more impressions of the Porsche 917, you will find it in the current episode of ck TV, the video format from ck-modelcars. In the Le Mans exhibition at the National Auto Museum, the models met one of the originals. As a result: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6cIHIaQpv8&t=937s
Porsche 917K #23 Winner 24h LeMans 1970 Attwood, Herrmann 1:12 Minichamps, RRP 199,95 €, item-no.: 125706623
Porsche 917K #20 24h LeMans 1970 Siffert, Redman 1:12 Minichamps, RRP 199,95 €, item-no.: 123706620
Porsche 917K #21 24h LeMans 1970 Rodriguez, Kinnunen 1:12 Minichamps, RRP 199,95 €, item-no.: 123706621
Porsche 917K #2 Winner 24h Daytona 1970 Rodriguez, Kinnunen, Redman 1:12, RRP 199,95 €, item-no.: 125706602
Porsche 917K #3 Winner 12h Sebring 1971 Elford, Larrousse 1:12, RRP 199,95 €, item-no.: 125716603
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