Fifty years ago Porsche unveiled the first production batch of the 917 race car that would transform the tiny German sportscar maker into a Le Mans winner. The first 917 chassis has spent much of its recent life in 917K bodywork with the Salzberg red and white livery. It’s been sitting in the Porsche museum that way for a while, but Porsche decided that it was time for the progenitor of it all was ready for a complete redo to look like it did when it was built.
That first batch of 917s featured suspension-activated adjustable ailerons, which you can see working at both the front and the rear in this video below. Porsche re-created the longtail bodywork and completely re-bodied this lovely vintage 917, bringing it full circle, just in time for the car’s 50th anniversary.
The car’s first display was during the Goodwood Members Meeting earlier this year, and once it was returned to the factory, the original 917 photograph was recreated with a huge line of 917s sitting outside the doors of Werk 1.
Later this month the group of 917s will be on display at the Porsche museum in Stuttgart for the “Colours of Speed” exhibit, which runs from May 14th until September 15th. So if you’ve always wanted to see 917-001 in person, it now looks like it did on that first day, so you’ll get a real glimpse of its history.
