Joe L and His Porsche 917/10 and 30 Turbo Panzer Creations: The Real Story

When the boys in Stuttgart decide to build a car around a single driver, one can for sure say in our modern day parlance that this particular chosen one had arrived. Back in 1971 Porsche was faced with a bit of a problem-just what do they do with all of the now obsoleted 917's they had built to compete for the manufacturers' Championship Series, particularly to win LeMans which they indeed did of course. The obvious solution was to chop the top and turn it into a sprint sports racer to compete in the Can-Am Challenge, which as we know was the wildest and most extreme series in the history of motorsport.

This also had the rather lucrative result of targeting potential buyers in their most important worldwide market, which was of course North America. A rather large secondary gain, even if the gamble failed against the already dominant Mclaren, Shadow, and Lola teams. The first and obvious step would be to chop-off the coupe top and create the spyder configuration that was allowed in the series and used by their competitors. The next step would be to up-the-ante in the power game, which was dominated by the 1969 Chevrolet ZL-1, the legendary 427 big block developed specifically for the Can-Am, which powered the McLaren M8B and the Chaparral 2F. The engineers at Porsche had several options at hand-increase the engine size and displacement; add another bank of cylinders; or perhaps the more efficient-use turbochargers. The five liter flat twelve was boosted by two Eberspacher truck turbochargers; which at a restricted by the Factory 1.3 bar, cranked out NINE HUNDRED horsepower-more than enough to leave the 8.1 liter Chevies, rated at a mere 750 horsepower, as a spec in their mirrors.

The developmental chores were initially given to the Swiss driver Jo Siffert, who helped give Porsche their first outright wins at Daytona and Sebring in 1968, and who later drove the 917 to earn several  major wins on European circuits. However, these plans were revised by his untimely death at Brands Hatch in 1971, forcing the Factory to turn over the reins to Roger Penske and his lead driver, Mark Donohue. Even Mark wrecked the test mule car badly at Road Atlanta, forcing him out of the cockpit to recover from knee surgery while teammate George Follmer took over development to eventually win the Can-Am Driver's championship in 1972.

Aurora would introduce their AFX model 1747 non-magnatraction Porsche 917-10K in 1974, well after the dominance of the 917-30 would eventually force McLaren back into the Formula One arena and the Can-Am series to a close. The chosen livery would be the RC Cola sponsored number 16 driven by George Follmer, which was actually the L&M Penske car and purchased by the Atlanta area's Bobby Rinzler, who persuaded Follmer and Charlie Kemp to drive them. Kemp would later do an arial loop in the car, narrowly missing death, making him the inaugral member of the Road Atlanta Flying Club. One interesting history behind the more modern of the Aurora Can-Am offerings. Aurora would also introduce a Porsche 510K spyder body as the on the Ultra 5 and G-Plus chassis' from 1973 until 1978, but the RC sponsorship would be missing on the production livery. The blue and yellow Penske car would be represented however.

Serge has indeed brought for our enjoyment in the HO slot car world a bit of real Can-Am history by sharing with our viewers the increadable creations of Joe. L., who like Serge, is a member of their Front Range racing group out of Denver and the surrounding area. The amount of work in bringing the blue and yellow Penske-Sonoco to life in our scale of choice is staggering. The car beautifully portrays the SEMA nose and LeMans long tail that was added to the bodywork, and the combination was well suited to the skills of Mark Donohue. "If you can make black marks on a straight from the time you turn out of a corner until the braking point of the next turn, then you have enough horsepower."  Certainly C CertainCertainly good enough for Donohue to walk away with the series in 1973.

In 1972 Porsche allowed only two other private entry 917/10's to compete in the Can-Am. One was the Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood driven Brumos Porsche car, and the other was the Vasek Polak entry driven by Mily Minyer and later World Champion Jody Scheckter. The red, white, and blue liveried 59 Brumos Porsche was chosen by Joe L. to skillfully replicate. Hurley would later destinguish himself by winning LeMans three times for Porsche.

The Jaegermeister liveried 917-30 was the first chassis built by Porsche at Stuttgart and test run by Mark Donohue; George Follmer; Paul Ricard; and Willi Kauhsen at Weissach. It raced entirely on the continent, winning at four of seven outings.

Ten days before his death in 1975, Mark Donohue would be reunited with his old Penske 917-30 to set the world record for a closed road course-220 mph at the Talladega tri-oval. Certainly a well chosen car to model by Joe L. Thank you Serge for showing these wonderful creations to us all. Once again, our slot cars all have a relevant history-something which can indeed add to their overall enjoyment and appreciation. God Bless! Tony mgbbrown