Press Information Meet the Heroes of Le Mans Mission 2014. Our Return. Legendary race cars Meet the Heroes of Le Mans • Legendary race cars 1 Model Highlights from 1951 – 1998 The Milestones Porsche racing cars have been in the starting line-up every year since 1951. Selected high - lights from Porsche's long history at the Le Mans race can be found here. Porsche 356 SL Coupé Jahr/Year 1951 Motor/Engine 4 Zyl./Cyl. Boxer/Flat Hubraum/Displacement 1.086 ccm Leistung/Power 46 PS/hp (34 kW) Gewicht/Weight 640 kg Vmax 160 km/h/kph Right from the outset, motor racing was an important factor in the success of the Porsche marque. Aside from the possibility of testing and subsequently perfecting the technology of the sports cars under tough racing conditions, motor sport proved to be the ideal stage to showcase the sporting qualities of Porsche sports cars in front of insiders and fans. It didn’t take long for enthusiastic press reports to appear and the Porsche 356 became the secret weapon amongst race drivers. The small German sports car manufacturer attracted attention around the world when, in 1951, the French importer Auguste Veuillet and his compatriot Edmond Mouche won the hotly-contested 1.1-litre class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a works-entered 356 SL. Porsche was the first automobile manufacturer after the war to compete at Le Mans. The 356 SL lived up to its name: The SL designation means “Super Light” and indicates the aerodynamically-optimised aluminium body with covered wheels. The fuel tank under the front hood was increased to 78 litres, making fewer pit stops necessary for the 356 SL. Driving the “aluminium can”, as the mechanics lovingly called the race car, was a 46 hp performance-enhanced four-cylinder flat engine. With this, the stream - lined Coupé reached a top speed of 160 km/h, which was enough for the Veuillet/Mouche team to average 118.36 km/h, cover 2,840.65 kilometres, and set the class record. Meet the Heroes of Le Mans • Legendary race cars 2 Porsche 550 Coupé Jahr/Year 1953 Motor/Engine 4 Zyl./Cyl. Boxer/Flat Hubraum/Displacement 1.488 ccm Leistung/Power 78 PS/hp (57 kW) @ 6000/min Gewicht/Weight 545 kg Vmax 200 km/h /kph The Porsche 550 Spyder was the first sports car from Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen built specifi - cally for racing. At its Le Mans premiere in the year 1953, sporting a Coupé-hardtop and a 78 hp power unit based on the VW engine, the fast and agile 550 featured a mid-engine, independent suspension as well as a pendulum rear axle and torsion bars. In addition to the excellent handling characteristics, lightweight design was the top priority for Porsche engineers: the overall weight of the 550 was now around 550 kilograms – that’s 100 kilos less than the 356 SL Coupé. The type designation “550” has, in fact, nothing to do with the weight of the vehicle – the name actually indicates the project number 550 of the Porsche Design office, which was founded in 1931. Becoming almost as legendary as the vehicle itself was what is known as the “Fuhrmann” engine in the 550 Spyder, which at the time of the Le Mans debut was already on the test-bed back in Germany. In the construction of the 1.5-litre light-alloy, four-cylinder, the Porsche designer Ernst Fuhrmann used every possible feature of modern race engine construction: Four overhead camshafts of the “Fuhrmann” motor, dual ignition, as well as an 8-litre dry sump lubrication at first delivered a reliable 110 hp. Over the following years, the performance of the engine type 587 grew to 180 hp. The Porsche 550 A Spyder made its debut in 1956 with a lighter and significantly stiffer space frame instead of the flat frame. With the 550 and 550 A Spyder, Porsche notched up six class victories in a row at Le Mans until 1958. Meet the Heroes of Le Mans • Legendary race cars 3 Porsche 718 RSK Spyder Jahr/Year 1958 Motor/Engine 4 Zyl./Cyl. Boxer/Flat Hubraum/Displacement 1.587 ccm Leistung/Power 148 PS/hp (109 kW) @ 8000/min Gewicht/Weight 530 kg Vmax 260 km/h/kph In 1958 Porsche again fields the 718 RSK, after the first outing a year ago ended with an accident. The successor to the 550 A Spyder is improved in many respects. A space frame of seamless steel tubing provides high rigidity at a very low weight; the suspension and the drum brakes have undergone optimisation. The aerodynamics have been refined – for Le Mans the co-driver’s side is covered with an aluminium sheet. Car No. 29 is powered by a Fuhrmann engine that was enlarged to 1,587 cc, the other three RSK feature the 1,498 cc unit planted in front of the rear axle. Jean Behra and Hans Herrmann clinch a sensational third place overall – the first overall podium result for Porsche KG right in time for the 10th anniversary of the young sports car manufacturer. Edgar Barth and Paul Frère win the 1.5-litre class with their No. 31 RSK and finish fourth overall. In 1959 the works RSK will tackle Le Mans with new “sprint” camshafts – and not see the flag. A year later the new 718 RS60 Spyder will come the Sarthe after outright wins at Sebring and the Targa Florio with new aerodynamics and a rear axle with coil springs. One of the cars will go on to score second place in its class. In 1961 a 718 RS61 will win the two-litre class with 185 hp, and a 160 hp “Le Mans Coupé” will conquer the 1.6-litre class. The wheelbase of the RS61 has grown by 100 millimetres compared to its predecessor, with the rear axle now featuring double wishbones. In 1962 the ACO do not grant permission for the 718 W-RS to compete with its new eight cylinder unit. But in 1963 it will clearly dominate the two-litre class. For Le Mans its engine puts out 210hp and accelerates the car to 280 kmh. Meet the Heroes of Le Mans • Legendary race cars 4 904 Carrera GTS Jahr/Year 1964 Motor/Engine 4 Zyl./Cyl. Boxer/Flat Hubraum/Displacement 1.966 ccm Leistung/Power 180 PS/hp (133 kW) @7.200/min Gewicht/Weight 650 kg Vmax 263 km/h/kph Beautiful and fast perfectly describes the Porsche 904 Carrera GTS, which was first presen - ted in November 1963 on the Solitude circuit near Stuttgart, clinched class victory in spring 1964 at Daytona, turned heads with a double win at the Targa Florio and scored a class win in the two-litre Grand Touring class at its Le Mans debut. Using a composite construction, F. A. Porsche created the 904 featuring a steel frame and a glass-fibre reinforced plastic body. The use of plastic was a first for Porsche, hence in the construction they sought advice from aviation experts. Two bodyshells per day were laminated by hand at the Heinkel Flug - zeug Bau GmbH in the German town of Speyer. Aside from its streamlined shape, what made the mid-engined race car so successful was its small frontal area of just 1.4 square metres and the Cd value of 0.33. Thanks to its different engine options, ranging from four to eight cylinders, the 904 Carrera GTS turned out to be very diverse. 106 units were mounted with a 180 hp (with racing exhaust) four-cylinder Carrera motor and fielded at Le Mans. Later, four vehicles received a 210 hp six-cylinder and two works-race cars were propelled by 240 hp eight-cylinder power units. Meet the Heroes of Le Mans • Legendary race cars 5 Porsche 917 K (Short Tail) Jahr/Year 1970 Motor/Engine 12 Zyl./Cyl., 180° V Hubraum/Displacement 4.494 ccm Leistung/Power 580 PS/hp (426 kW) @ 8.300/min Gewicht/Weight 830 kg Vmax 340 km/h/kph There’s no lack of famous number combinations at Porsche. But 9-1-7 stands one of the most legendary race cars ever to tackle the circuits of the world. It stands for a generation of Porsche race cars that could only be defeated by rule changes – but not on the race track. When the new rules for the sports car world championship come out at the end of 1967, Porsche decides to design a sports car for the five-litre class. As the successor to the successful 907 and 908, the 917 was initially powered by a 4.5-litre twelve-cylinder motor with around 560 hp at 8,300 rpm. The new engine would accelerate the 917 to speeds just below 400 km/h – a huge challenge for the aerodynamicists at Weissach. At Le Mans, the 917 leads at his first outing in 1969 until three hours before the finish – only to retire with clutch failure. Porsche returns in 1970, and this time yields success. The 917 K short tail, with starting number 23 and decked out in the red and white of Porsche Salzburg KG, brings home the first outright win for Porsche. Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood share the cockpit of the racer with its aluminium space frame under its thin plastic bodywork. For 1970, output of the twelve cylinder was increased to 580 hp. A long tail 917 clinches second place overall. In the sports car world championship, Porsche clinches the title thanks to the seven wins of the now-dominating 917.