All 917s ever made were initially racing cars, and although chassis #30 did compete, Porsche converted it to be road-legal
- The Porsche 917 was developed under Ferdinand Piech’s leadership to win Le Mans- and it did.
- Initially built as a racer, one of these monsters was converted to be road-legal for an Italian Count.
- This 917K now resides in southern France and is regularly driven, despite being 50 years old.
You’re certainly excused for not knowing who Teofilo Guiscardo Rossi di Montelera was; neither did we, actually. He admittedly had an impressive name, but it was also a bit too long, so the Italian businessman and heir of the Rossi family, who co-owned the Martini & Rossi “kings of vermouth” company, was known simply as Count Rossi.
If you’re a motorsport fan, though, you have no excuse for not being familiar with the Porsche 917 in Martini’s colors, second in fame only to the Gulf one immortalized on the silver screen by Steve McQueen.
An Italian Count Asked For This Masterpiece And Porsche Made It
In any case, in 1971 a Martini-liveried 917K (for Kurzheck, or “short-tail”) scored the brand’s second consecutive win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, forever securing its place in racing history. During that time, Count Rossi, apart from a businessman, a two-time powerboat world champion racer and a bobsledder, was also a Porsche enthusiast. So when he knocked on Weissach’s door and asked them for a street-legal 917K, they kindly obliged.
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Only they didn’t build a new one but chose an ex-racer, chassis #30, that had competed in just one event (in which it retired) and converted it to the count’s preferences. Finished in Martini Silver, the road-legal 917 featured rudimentary exhaust mufflers, additional mirrors, side indicators, and even a horn. It also had a – mandatory – spare tire under the rear clamshell (quite a feat, given the limited space that housed the flat-12 engine and its cooling fan on top) and was originally fitted with Alabama license plates obtained by Count Rossi since the car couldn’t be registered in Europe.
Just The Basics, Please – And Some Hermes Leather
The term “spartan” is not enough to describe the interior. The 917 makes even the McLaren F1 look like a Rolls-Royce as it has nothing that isn’t absolutely necessary. Which isn’t that much; just a steering wheel, a gear lever, three pedals, instruments, harnesses and two seats, as required by endurance racing regulations. However, in this one, Porsche retrimmed the seats in tan leather by none other than uber-luxury house Hermes, and the dashboard, doors and roof lining in color-matching suede.
Other than that, it had no changes, retaining the (now legendary) wooden gear shifter that, decades later, would be replicated in the Carrera GT, and even the same drilled, in order to save some ounces, key. See, the 917 didn’t have a start button but drivers fired up the engine just like they would in any other car: by turning a key.
The Crown Jewel Of Porsche’s History
In case you didn’t already know, the reason Porsches have the ignition on the left of the steering wheel is that endurance racing teams wanted to save precious seconds in getting their motor running. Back then, the cars were lined up sideways and, when the flag dropped, drivers rushed to get into them. This was later deemed too dangerous, as some didn’t bother to wear their seat belts in order to gain positions at the start. Dr. Ferdinand Piech, the mastermind behind the 917, knew that a few seconds can make a difference between the winner and the runner-up (aka the first loser) in a 24-hour endurance race that includes a multitude of pit stops and driver changes.
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Nowadays, the street-legal 917K, which is 50 years old, is wearing UK license plates and is driven by its current owner in the roads of southern France, where it resides. Moreover, it was recently subjected to some restoration work, which preserved the original paint and interior, to keep it in tip-top shape, hopefully for at least the next 50 years.
The future might be electric, but the past has a charm of its own. Just look at this 917; I bet petrolheads would happily toast a Martini Rosso or a Negroni to it and Count Rossi’s memory, since he perished in 1991, aged 89.
