In March this year, Porsche lifted the veils of a
concept car very few people knew about: the 917 Concept. The stunning creation was
unveiled as part of the celebrations surrounding the Porsche 917 race car’s
50th anniversary. Back in March, the automaker didn’t reveal much about the
design study but said it would be part of an exhibition titled “Colours of
Speed – 50 Years of the 917.”
Until the exhibition opens on May 14 at the Porsche
Museum, we can admire the Porsche 917 Concept in a new set of photos released
by the automaker. We also get to learn new things about it, such as the fact
that it was built in 2013 by “a small team of twenty people recruited from
Porsche’s design and development department.”
Their goal was to build a concept car that would pay
homage to the red-and-white Porsche 917 which won the company’s first overall
victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970 in the hands of Hans Herrmann and
Richard Atwood. The concept was also built to mark Porsche’s decision to race
again at Le Mans as a factory team — something that became a reality in 2014
when the Porsche 919 Hybrid debuted in the LMP1 class.
Sadly, the 917 Concept never advanced beyond the
clay-model stage. Yes, what you see is actually a foil-clad study that was put
in storage from 2013 to 2019 and only shown internally during that period. The
Porsche Museum exhibition will be the first public outing of the concept.
Will Porsche leave a stunning design like the 917
Concept to go to waste, though? Maybe not, as a recent report suggests Porsche
could use some design cues from the 917 Concept on the brand’s next hypercar
due in 2025. Mind you, nothing is decided at the moment regarding the styling
of the 918 Spyder‘s successor.
