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John goes LIVE (gulp) and answers your questions on his VINwiki video about the legendary Porsche 917.
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See the original VINwiki video here: • The loophole Porsche r...
917 books:
Gulf 917 by Jay Gillotti
Porsche 917: The Winning Formula by Peter Morgan
Porsche 917: Owners Workshop Manual by Ian Wagstaff
Porsche: Excellence was Expected by Karl Ludvigsen
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www.ficarraclas...
#Porsche917 #Porsche #Vinwiki

[@EdBolian]

Loved the deeper dive. Great stuff!

[@FicarraClassic]

Thanks Ed!

[@mountainmandale1587]

He should have jumped on the KZbin gig a while back! He has so much stuff to put out there! Keep it up, my brother! He needs to be making the real money!

[@thecurbsurfer3237]

I’m so happy you started a channel. I’m getting a bit bored of “i bought the cheapest blah, blah, blah” content. Keep up the awesome videos.

[@FicarraClassic]

Thank you! Will do!

[@cschnauz]

The shifter moving around was the original langheck/longtail cars from early 1969, drivers reported the entire shift mechanism/box moving around due to chassis flex of the original cars which were a little flimsy. You see them weaving around under braking because the chassis wasn’t up to the level of the brakes. According to Brian Redman you could see the chassis tubes flexing during heavy braking. Love what you’re doing here mr Ficcara

[@DaveSmithmarketingconsultant]

Nice content. My first race was at Laguna Seca in 1972. I have a story about Mark Donohue in the 917/10. It was his second race after the crash that broke his leg. His teammate, George Follmer was well on his way to the championship in Mark's absence. If George won at Laguna, he would clinch the championship. Mark dominated the whole race. Denny and Peter both dropped out. On the last lap, Mark pulled over to the edge of the track (happened to be where I was standing). He let George pass him, then went on to finish second. One of the classiest guys in the sport

[@overbuiltlimited]

Awesome story!

[@jaygillotti610]

Nice job answering questions on the fly!

[@FicarraClassic]

Thanks Jay! And thanks for sharing all of your 917 knowledge!

[@jaygillotti610]

Magnesium chassis 917Ks were chassis numbers 051, 052, and 053 (the 1971 Le Mans winner). Porsche also built two 917/10s with magnesium chassis. 053 is the only survivor.

[@HDRAus]

OMG it’s Jay the 917 guru!!! Love all your work mate. Love your books!

[@dwtrksvc]

Total legend for geeking out on these earth bound rocketships! Thank you!

[@isaactrockman4417]

I don’t think the flat 12 ever made it into another car, but fun fact: they made 2 914’s with a flat 8 that was from the 908

[@ConstanceMists]

God bless you John Ficarra. My father grew up when these cars were racing for the world championship and he would have loved wealth of information thats out there for these incredible cars

[@Billyspacerocket]

John - Thanks for sharing your knowledge / Motorsport history is just starting to become interesting to me / You are opening the doors in such an eloquent way Kudos!!!

[@WaywardWhiteWalker]

That was fun. Love the facts and history. Looking forward to your next drop

[@mcdc3498]

Thank you John for some great details and information!

[@glurak888]

Hey Ficarra, Love your stories, subjects a bit more in depth is an awesome way to get some extra entertainment out of a given topic. Might I suggest talking about the story of the 3 series touring? It's a surprisingly interesting tale of engineers doing their thing and the bosses noticing it

[@briangeary4228]

yes for some shirts

[@odb_roc_hound4186]

Anyone interested in 917’s should try to find a late 80’s Road&Tracks article when Phil Hill compared the 917 to the 512S that he raced. They had both at a track for him to drive.

[@kevin4324]

Willi Kauhsen, one of the test drivers, has some fantastic stories of the 917… they’re in german tho. These stories never get old and always are fantastic to hear

[@alexseremet]

Thank you so much for sharing these amazing insights and beautiful stories!

[@nathanadams1332]

Really excited for more of your videos!

[@dzenis3858]

Cant wait for the 917 can am video

[@adamhelstad496]

Love to learn more about the history of great cars.

[@steveboris6286]

I would love to hear about the Jegermeister 962. From what I know there were 2 versions. Someone I know owns the smaller one but I would like to know about the big one with the heads that were welded to the block.

[@agdrummer2610]

Im sure they would be MUCH more expensive now, but even back then, to buy a 917 for a road car had to be outrageously pricey. Good luck finding parts if ANYTHING needs to be replaced. It's still a super awesome purchase, regardless, haha.

[@EvilMcSheep]

Very interesting! The video felt half as long as it was! :D

[@trentbenz1527]

Congrats

[@LimitR]

Hey John. Love the info your sharing here. Would love to hear your take on the 1969 Le Mans 24 hours. I'm especially fond of the whole stance Jacky Ickx took against the traditional Le Mans start and how he still managed to come back to win it.

[@artiejsmith]

John how did you possibly answer 917 questions in just 45 minutes??

[@FicarraClassic]

I did 959 before so I slowed down just a bit. 😁

[@claudiodiez55]

Love your Channel.

[@DrsharpRothstein]

Wish I would made it to this live.

[@mountainmandale1587]

How about some older American iron? What you got, John? Just trying to help you keep it going. You got this.

[@trvs4522]

My question is, did the 'fan' that helped cool the engine (the one on your shirt) pull hotter air from the track surface air up from below, or push cooler air from above onto the engine block? The benefits to drawbacks come down to downforce vs. air temp. Yes?

[@kyle_c936]

The fan only sucked cooling air in from above (at a phenomenal rate - 2,400 litres per second, which I've never been able to get my head around. When the Gulf Racing Research Laboratory in Pittsburgh tested a 917 engine on a dyno for John Wyer's team in 1970 or '71, they found that it sucked almost all the air out of the dyno room so they had to build a bigger room!). Still, it's a good question, because Helmut Flegl, Porsche's race engineer who worked with Mark Donohue and Penske on the CanAm program, said that back in Weissach they tried running a 917 engine with the fan inverted, sucking air up from below, to see what downforce it could create. It was only a half-hearted experiment; they didn't put skirts around the chassis to seal it, and they found what they'd expected: that the air sucked in from under the engine was too dirty; the engine wouldn't have been cooled enough and the dirt would inevitably have wrecked it. So whether it would have produced worthwhile downforce or not, although it surely could have, it just wasn't feasible - maybe if they'd persevered they might have resolved the issues, but they felt it was a blind alley and AFAIK it was never looked at again.

[@tobyman4288]

this feels like an office hour in a history course, if only there was an automotive history degree...

[@tuddrussell]

Where do I get the cooling fan shirt?

[@sesapup]

If you're going to have a 817 cooling fan shirt, you *must* sell a BMW motorycle seat shirt. And a red 356 shirt.

[@muskcoder6367]

The Fabulous Porsche 917 by Peter Hinsdale

[@RennfahrerCembalist]

Shoot! Missed the stream, my question is that: Could the 917 have weighed 600 kg ish like its contemporary 70s F1 car if it were a sprint car and needed not to beef up the gearbox and chassis for endurance durability? I've always fantasized about a formula 1 where only closed wheel prototypes are allowed, and they needed not to the cater to the endurance minimum weight which hinders their acceleration and handling compared to sprint cars. Porsche did produce bunch of ultra lightweight prototypes that weighted well under 500 kg, the 909 and 910/8 Bergspyder weighed 380kg and

[@gregnash7918]

Also was the flat 12 carb inject or mechanicle inject. Thanks

[@klintonkacatin]

One suggestion. NO TIME LIMIT. Ramble on.

[@DrumNut927]

The Hippy Porsche is alive and well and living at the Simeon’s foundation museum in Philadelphia.

[@atticus6572]

Ficarra, are you still taking suggestions? I would be thrilled to see a video on some iconic, under the radar JDM legends such as the Lancer Evolution I-VI's.

[@glurak888]

"under the radar" "Evo" breh

[@FicarraClassic]

Thanks for the suggestion. I've got a few of the big JDM cars on my list. They should be fun to dig into.

[@atticus6572]

@@glurak888 The Evolution name isn't under the radar per se, but few people know of the I-VI generations that did not come to North America and the history that accompanies.

[@dzenis3858]

honestly happy they are underrated in the us, the prices here in europe are decent and I want it to stay that way until I can afford one :D

[@ChainlineCycles]

Where did the "The Last Chase " 917 go??? this was the car that started my love affair with Porsche

[@FicarraClassic]

That was a kit car and was probably destroyed years ago. I'll get into that in my upcoming 917 Can-Am video. Still, it was good enough to get a bunch of us excited about race cars as a kid, and that's real enough for me!

[@gregnash7918]

Is the flat 12 low on torqe.

[@trentbenz1527]

Can i get a test ride ?

[@60secthebaptist9]

John. Some are asking so I'll pile on. Where can the unwashed buy a 917 Cooling fan t-shirt?

[@beardyb3393]

I also don't know why the 917 is namend 917 but If i remember corectly Porsche had to stop using numbers with a zero in the middle because Peugeot got a patend on that. The 911was originally going to be the 901. So mabe this has also somthing to do with the 917 being the 917

[@trentbenz1527]

Horizontal opposed

[@Mr-G131]

Video series Idea: "This book can be Read." with recommendations of a top book on a specific car/brand/driver n such. You rec's on the 917 books are seriously on point. Would love to hear about/know others you rate highly on a topic.

[@FicarraClassic]

Love "This book can be Read." Brilliant. I have started making book recommendations on my Instagram every Thursday, and I will add recommendations to my history videos.

[@timocallaghan4408]

@@FicarraClassic How do you find those books? Any publishers you'd recommend? I'd love to find some based on Honda, Toyota and Nissan's race programs in the 90's and 00's.

[@trentbenz1527]

😂

[@trentbenz1527]

Jay is cool

[@trentbenz1527]

Damn

[@kyinvestor]

What a great Easter Surprise. John your great love of racing history shines through in your videos and makes you a joy to watch. Thank you and keep the great videos coming. A+. Jim in Kentucky

[@agdrummer2610]

This dude is definitely an automotive historian and should probably be teaching classes somewhere. Really cool how much he knows. Respect, sir.

[@velvetjones1856]

917-30 didn't wreck Can Am alone, the Penske organizations with Donahue couldn't be beat. The cars were getting too fast and expensive so they cut back to the new formula A cars with small block power. Slower and cheaper.

[@efariab3820]

John, enjoyed it and what a fantastic and very informative section! Best, Essy

[@cliffdavis]

This video and the VINWiki video has given me an even greater application of 917-043, which is on display at a private collection museum near me. Hopefully they bring it out for another demo run this summer, I'd love to hear it run in person.

[@philarends7555]

Take me money for the shirt

[@jaygillotti610]

1970 Le Mans - highest attrition of any Le Mans race.

[@jaygillotti610]

Porsche Type or project numbers were assigned (roughly) in sequential order, so 917 was next up. The Type number for the engine, 912, was meant as a reference to the number of cylinders, but also (conveniently) provided cover or confusion relative to the road-going 912 (which was the Type 902).

[@gordonkachuk5457]

Porsche 917 cooling fans. Back in 1969 the 917 had its first race outing at the Spa 1000km. I was standing on a balcony directly above the Porsche pits and looked straight down on a 917 during engine start and that cooling fan became engrained in my brain forever. Sadly none of the 917's finished and the race was won by Jo Siffert and Brian Redman in a 908 Langheck.

[@arthuralford]

Count Rossi's car was registered in Alabama; seen pictures of it with Alabama plates. The Grossman car is registered in Monaco currently

[@jaygillotti610]

Ex-Grossman (012 renumbered 021) car was restored to a racer in the 1980s, then fully restored around 2011 and is now owned by a man in Belgium. You may be thinking of the car known as Chassis 037 that has been shown as registered for the road in Belgium.

[@Vampirebear13]

TYVM for reading & responding to my question !!!! 🥰 My brother Jeff met Hurley Haywood @ Amelia Island in 2014 & many other people as well, his wife Nancy used to work for Bill Warner 🙂 and help organize the concour.

[@jensenhealey907efi]

Can you do a video where you talk about the replica D-Type in the background of the Corona race car video?

[@windyworm]

Fantastically interesting videos, thank you for posting. Was lucky enough to see/hear the 917s race at Brands Hatch in the BOAC 1000k race. The combination of 917, 512S, Lola and the mad sounding Matra was astonishing!

[@RalfDuke]

You missed the important point of the Pink Pig: Hans Mezger was the head of the Porsche race design office that made the 917. In German, Mezger sounds like Metzger, which is the German word for butcher. That's why the "pink pig" design was a tribute to him.

[@russn4933]

Love your videos - subscribed. But just off the top of my head, I think the Pink Pig paint job came about because the race department outsourced the body design to a French company, but allowed the in house engineers to design the paint job. Porsche's own engineers supposedly hated the French bodywork. They thought it was too bulbous and "fat" so they started calling it the Pig. Hence, the pig paint job. At least that's the way I remember the story from Donohugh's book, which I read in 1980 when I was 11 years old.

[@tbville]

Where do you get the shirt? Link please

[@tbville]

Ok just got to the part, please make the shirts. They will sell.

[@niosanfrancisco]

Amazing stuff John. A wealth of knowledge. Cannot wait for the Audi Trans Am cars,.!!

[@leotherocker94]

Wait down a minute.. the salzburg car at Porsche museum is not the same that won Le Mans in 1970? That info made my mind blow! How could Porsche not use the very same chassis that they won? That's my favorite 917!

[@danielriddle4501]

Much appreciated! More Smokey Yunick storeys please. And what books do I need? I like you pushing books.

[@AJwiththeAK]

So we could’ve gotten 35-40 minutes of John talking about historic race cars? Damn

[@collind328]

If a 917 rear ended a Pinto would both cars explode?

[@danielmatthews5110]

It's worth noting that chassis 001 has now been restored back to its original specs. The Le Mans winning Salzburg car is part of a prominent British collection

[@FicarraClassic]

Thanks! Great to hear. Last I saw it was in the Salzburg livery. Love when they put things back to the way they were.

[@jaygillotti610]

@@FicarraClassic Chassis 001 was restored in time for the 917 50th in 2019.

[@thethirdman225]

My understanding is that the 5 litre engine was never raced,

[@trentbenz1527]

Its the same interoir as the 917

[@shafferjoe1962]

Thank you John. Great video.

[@trentbenz1527]

I need to test drive a OMG

[@getafixx149]

how do we get the T-shirt? I want one!

[@trentbenz1527]

Hit me up 😅

[@trentbenz1527]

No prob

[@trentbenz1527]

Lol

[@ollesandberg1143]

Good show!!!

[@dwaynekinsland2892]

😚 Pᵣₒmₒˢᵐ

[@nirfz]

👍 Just a minor unmportant detail: Porsche Salzburg was the family playground of Ferdinand Piechs relativs (either his mother or his sister, i don't remember) But it was (is) the general importer of Porsche and VW cars into austria. (Ferdinand Porsche originally was from austria, and parts of his family were and are located there.) And they had a racing team. They did not just race the 917's, they also raced Beetles in rallye for example. No joke, while the normal Beetles had maybe 30-40 hp, the Rallye Beetles had 120 hp and a LSD. They were not slow... (they had a better power to weight ratio than the first Lotus Elise!) So it's not entirely true that Porsche Salzburg wasn't anymore after their 917 engegement, they just raced something else then.

[@trentbenz1527]

😂

[@williamford9564]

0:38: That is spot on. In modern day racing even with transponders, some teams today, even in Formula 1, still use different liveries, such as wing or engine color stripes to distinguish cars for fans watching on site or the announcers in the TV booth.

[@JKJ360]

Best storyteller in the business! Love your content!😁

[@bobbycuesroadhouse2204]

What broke on Mark donahues car that ended him?

[@FicarraClassic]

Tire failure while practicing in his March 751 for the Austrian Grand Prix. He lapsed into a coma after the accident and died of a cerebral hemorrhage. A tragic loss of an absolute legend. One of my heroes.

[@bobbycuesroadhouse2204]

@@FicarraClassic Mine too, I saw Captain Nice race at Mid-Ohio in early 70s as a 12 yr old kid

[@WaywardWhiteWalker]

There is the angle crank that most cars have, there is the flat plane crank like Subaru has and there is the flat plane boxer crank like a Ferrari bb512. All very different. A true boxer flat crank allows for TWO pistons to fire at the same time on opposite banks in the block. That is why Subaru isn't a "real" boxer (firing order is 1-2-3-4) just because of a flat crank and how would you get a 4 cylinder to fire two pistons at the same time anyway? There would only be one Big Bang per revolution. Anyway, that's my understanding of it.

[@thethirdman225]

Only four and eight cylinder engines (and presumably 16) can have a flat plane crank. Twelve cylinder engines can’t.

[@Pat-RickSmith]

Hey John love the new channel . So my question for you is when you were working for Canepa did you ever get to drive some of the cool cars that you tell us about? And if so what were they ?

[@larrysmith6797]

Mr. Ficarr, Porsch is two syllables.