White Racers from Zuffenhausen: Porsche 904, 906, 907, 908, 909, 910 (Ludvigsen Library Series)

White Racers from Zuffenhausen: Porsche 904, 906, 907, 908, 909, 910 (Ludvigsen Library Series) Review

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White Racers from Zuffenhausen: Porsche 904, 906, 907, 908, 909, 910 (Ludvigsen Library Series) Feature

It was no small leap for Porsche from its giant-killing Spyders to the powerful Type 917 that swept all before it. The gap was bridged by its 900-series sports-racing cars, here depicted in rare original photography from the Ludvigsen Library. Karl Ludvigsen has personally selected both dramatic action images and intimate technical details of the 904, 906, 907, 908 and 910, which with their air-cooled flat-six and flat-eight engines brought Porsche to the fore in both international sports-car racing and the European Hillclimb Championship, which Porsche won in 1966 and 1968. These were the years of spare-no-expense building of fresh cars for every race, funded secretly by Volkswagen, with exotic titanium and beryllium components. Led technically by the thrusting Ferdinand Piëch, Porsche built the ultra-light 908/03 expressly to win both the Targa Florio and Nürburgring — which it did. Porsche expert Karl Ludvigsen introduces this must-have pictorial panorama for all fans of the white racers from Zuffenhausen.

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Porsche 956 & 962: Immortal Endurance Racers 1982-1994 (Ludvigsen Library)

Porsche 956 & 962: Immortal Endurance Racers 1982-1994 (Ludvigsen Library) Review

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Porsche 956 & 962: Immortal Endurance Racers 1982-1994 (Ludvigsen Library) Feature

Powered by a tubocharged flat six, the 956/962 had Porsche’s first full monocoque structure and was the first car its engineers designed to produce aerodynamic downforce. Raced both by the factory and by private teams, these were turn-key cars: just turn the key…and win. These are among the world’s most respected racing cars. In these pages an expert on Porsche, Karl Ludvigsen, shares rare images from his personal archive and describes the highs and more highs of these great Porsches.

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Porsche 917: Zuffenhausen's Le Mans and Can-Am Champion (Ludvigsen Library Series)

Porsche 917: Zuffenhausen's Le Mans and Can-Am Champion (Ludvigsen Library Series) Review

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Porsche 917: Zuffenhausen's Le Mans and Can-Am Champion (Ludvigsen Library Series) Feature

After knocking on the door for decades, Germany's Porsche finally stepped into the big time of international auto racing with its Type 917 in 1969. Its phenomenal air-cooled flat-12 engine powered the 917 to 15 wins in world sports-car championship races from 1969 to 1971, after which it was outlawed by a rules change. Included were two wins at Le Mans in 1970 and '71. First built in a series of 25 coupes that Volkswagen chief Ferdinand Piech called the biggest risk he's ever taken in business, the 917 was raced in both short- and long-tailed forms, pumping out 630 bhp by 1971. It went on to even greater glory in turbocharged roadster form in Can-Am racing as the 917/10, series champion in 1972. In '73 the incredible 1,000-horsepower 917/30 Porsche dominated the Can-Am series in the hands of Mark Donohue, who called it "the perfect racing car". The 917 stands proud in Porsche's history as the costly and daring machine that decisively ended the company's underdog status in international motor sport.

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Porsche Spyders 1956-1964: Type 550A, RSK and 718 (Ludvigsen Library Series)

Porsche Spyders 1956-1964: Type 550A, RSK and 718 (Ludvigsen Library Series) Review

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Porsche Spyders 1956-1964: Type 550A, RSK and 718 (Ludvigsen Library Series) Feature

The great success that Porsche enjoyed with its first 550 Spyders spurred its small but effective racing cadre to a more ambitious design with its 1956 Type 550A. It's stiffer space frame was inside the 550A that Umberto Maglioli drove single-handed to win the 1956 Targa Florio -- Porsches greatest victory yet.

Experiments in 56 with an even smaller racer, the Type 645, ended with a disastrous crash. Not for nothing was it nicknamed "Mickey Mouse". In 1957 Porsche created the immortal RSK, a race and hillclimb winner. The RS60 arrives in 1960 to meet new rules, winning Sebring outright. It evolved into the RS61 and then the Type 718, using the Grand Prix eight-cylinder engine. Races and hillclimbs throughout the world were mastered by these agile silver cars through 1964, depicted in magnificent images from the Ludvigsen Library.

 

 

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