The loophole Porsche racecar Ferrari couldn't touch! 

I'll be answering your Porsche 917 questions live this Saturday at noon eastern time on my new channel. Come get your car geek on with me at ru-vid.com ! If you can't make it just hit me with your questions below.

The Porsche 917 road car makes the Lamborghini Countach seem like a practical family hatchback in comparison.

This man can tell a proper story.

I was 10 years old when my father brought me to Le Mans 1970, where I saw the legendary car in action. More than 50 years later, when someone talks about race cars, the Porsche 917 comes to my mind!

This is a great history lesson. I remember going to Watkins Glen with my brother in 1970. I had just turned 20 in June and my brother 17 in March. A couple of kids really. We traipsed around the track all day taking pictures with a long lensed Nikon F motor drive. I was originally a Ford fan but the Porsche 917 had stolen my allegiance. Seeing the two 917s come in 1 and 2 against the Ferraris was a dream come true. Just wish I still had all of those pictures that we took.

Thank you Ficarra and VINwiki, today's episode washed away the filthy taste of NFT Bro with the delightfully nostalgic minty flavor of Porsche racing dominance.

I honestly could listen to him telling car stories like this all day! By far my favorite story teller on here!

Hesitated, "24minutes it's a little long, I need to do stuff" - felt like 5minutes. So glad to hear a person that is telling a story so well time isn't even noticed - AND knows the engineering well enough to incorporate it for us nerds. Thank you!

That bit about having a pressurized frame to check for cracks was something I've never heard of. That's amazing!

Day 2 of being thankful there aren't anymore Crypto/NFT Bros. John Ficarra also has the most unique and genuine stories on this channel.

We love Ficarra's deep dives into racing history! Enjoy.

I love active aero and mechanical solutions to problems, so the sketch at 18:52 just blew my mind. I really like the idea of a wing adjusted by suspension position, and I think that adds a lot of possibilities for making a fast car!

One of the best story tellers of all time. You can feel his passion.

IMO, John Ficarra is just THE best at telling stories. He could tell me how he left a paper straw in the glove box of a car and I’d be there to listen

you really should hire this man full time, he is honestly one of if not the best storyteller you guys have on

I remember the Can-Am cars firing up in Edmonton, when I was a kid. We lived miles away. The roar was stupendous. My dad wrenched a Formula Ford at the time. I heard about the cars. In the 70's I loved reading the sports car magazines when I could find one. The Porches were absolute beasts. But that sound. I wish I could have seen them race. this story is great. 3 years of utter domination.

I loved it when you said, "Ferrari saw the 917 as a threat." Enzo saw EVERYTHING as a threat! LOL

Never clicked on a VinWiki story so fast - All hail John Ficaffa the master story teller

John could talk about the engineering of a toaster and it would be interesting. Love that guy's stories

I saw Le Mans in a theatre, sitting in the front row. That was quite the car experience for a kid. When the engine noise kicked in and the race got underway was one of the best cinematic experiences of my like.

What I miss in this great video are the other races besides the 24h of Daytona and Le Mans in these two years 1970 and 71. As a matter of fact the 917 was not competitive at the Targa Florio and at the 1000 km at the Nurburgring Nordschleife. Porsche used for these races the lighter 908/3. They won three of these races, the Targa Florio 1971 was won by the Alfa Romeo TT33/3. The second race 1970 the 12h of Sebring was the only victory for the Ferrari 512S. The Alfa TT33/3 won two more races in 1971 (1000 km Brands Hatch and 6h Watkins Glen). In all other races the 917 came first. Remarkable is the victory of the Salzburg 917 1971 in Le Mans. The drivers Helmut Marko (now a big man at Red Bull) and Gijs van Lennep won with an incredible new distance record of 5333 km and an average speed of 222 km/h. This record lasted until 2010. I should mention here that there were two chicanes built at the Mulsanne straight in 1990. Another incredible performance of the 917 was the 1000 km race at the old extremely fast race track of Spa Francorchamps. Petro Rodriguez and Jack Oliver finished the race in there Gulf 917 #21 in 4h 1min and 9sec.with an average speed of over 249 km/h Just 0,4 sec behind was the Gulf 917 #20 driven by Joe Siffert and Derek Bell. I saw this race. It was just insane how Joe and Petro were pushing each other to new lap records in their last stint. Finally Joe did the fastes lap with an average speed of over 262 km/h and they were racing bumper to bumper on this very dangerous track which was an ordinary road (except of Eau Rouge). These 5 l sport cars were more than 10 sec faster than the fastes lap of F1 in 1970 (won by Petro Rodriguez). I'm quite sure with Joe and Petro in the same car, with less slower cars and less traffic these guys could have done the 1000 km in less than 4 hours, i.e. a speed of more than 250 km/h. Insane. You guys should give it a change. You are using already liters instead of inch³ so do it as the rest of the world does it, the Canadians do it since decades. Think metric! Other great 917 drivers were Brian Redman, Hans Hermann, Vic Elford and Leo Kinunen. So sad both Petro and Joe died both in an accident in 1971. Not in a 917 though. Petro shortly after Le Mans in a private Ferrari 512S and Joe in October in his BRM F1 car. The 917 was an incredible machine.

Another Legendary John Ficarra Story I could Listen To His Stories All Day Long

I love this guy’s stories. I’ve watched his “Ford vs Ferrari story you never heard of” about a dozen times now. Great stories, great delivery. Good job by you.

Great story, really learned a lot. But when you mention the Ferrari 512 around 11:09, you actually show a Lola T70, which has another fascinating story of it's own.

Talked to Ficarra about this at the Amelia. Great to finally see the story.

Losing traction on the expressway is quite frightening can't imagine that on a track going 200 mph

I rarely feel this much engaged in a video, amazing work, no music no distractions, just pure content. love it

I love hearing about the 917s Story! Would've loved to hear a bit about the 917/30 aswell but maybe another time I've been obsessed with this car for years because my grandpa used to work at porsche and actually built some 908s and 917s. His team maintained the camera car from the le mans movie! I actually don't know what he looked like back in the days so he might actually be somewhere in this video. Might have to go through some of his old pictures together with him at some point :D

One of the best VINwiki episodes ever. Well prepared, well executed and with really good use of period photos.

I remember seeing 917s and 908s racing in Can Am at Mid Ohio in the 70's. It killed every class it was entered. When the turbocharged 917/30 came along, all the other teams had been running bored and stroked Chevy big blocks as big as 8.5 liters in size. Many tried turbocharging those huge engines and found little success compared to the Porsche. BTW: at 11:06 a Lola T70 in Sunoco/Penske livery is shown and implied to be Ferrari's 512M, which Penske did race in nearly identical livery. The T70 was what privateers raced in the WEC if they couldn't afford the Porsche or Ferrari.

3:40 He's talking about torsional vibrations which restult in a stationary wave. In the center of the crankshaft, there's a node of oscillation, ie: a point where the amplitude is always =0. 4:38 Interestingly enough, this book has got it wrong. It was NOT a "Boxermotor". It was a 180° V12. A 180° V12 can have equidistant ignition spacing and be fully balanced, without venting channels in the crankcase or repulsion losses. Thanks for the great video.

The number of people who are completely unaware of these incredible and historical racing stories and events is saddening. I was having a conversation with a coworker, who is a big time racing fan, and I mentioned the 24-hour Daytona race. He said, "Wow, imagine driving that oval for 24 hours straight." I explained to him that the 24-hour race is the road course layout of Daytona, to which they were completely unaware existed. Unfortunately, the larger racing series, such as NASCAR, have gone so extremely far away from thier roots that they have driven fans away. The excitement of ingenuity and the uncertainty of a new idea that gave NASCAR its popularity among racers and fans has completely evaporated. Keep these stories alive by continuing to share them!!

Seeing the #22 1971 Porsche 917 that shattered all those records is one of the greatest vehicles I’ve ever seen. Fantastic story again!

John needs to make documentaries and narrate them. The man has an excellent speaking voice and knows how to make any story interesting

Great video. For comparison, the 917 frame wad 105 lbs. One brake drum of a semi weighs 105 lbs.

It blows my mind these incredible drivers with years of experience couldn't determine or communicate there was no rear downforce. Awesome video, thanks man!

When I saw the title I was hoping it was a John Ficarra story. Awesome story John. I always enjoy learning about racing history from you. A+ story teller.

Great story as always! Love the way John can tell a story and history the history is amazing.

I´m 68 years old, and I had the privilege to see Le Mans in 69 until 72 and I saw the 917´s victories in 70 and 71´s years, but only today, 27 April 2022, I knew about the birth, development and the all the issues that are in the base of, for me, the most incredible, beautiful and iconic endurance racing car ever, what a car! Thank you VINwiki and Mr John Ficarra for your explanation for this Historic iconic car.

I remember the 917/30 at Mosport. It was literally so powerful that you could feel the engine sound vibrations in your chest. A wicked car!!!

It's always a good day with a story from John!

That "Ferrari" at 11:10 is actually a Lola. 😀 For a good look at the Mulsanne Straight, check out "In Car 956". Crazy fast!

John, I spent my entire lunch today just captivated with this story. Of course it's run length left me no time to comment. Or should I say thank you for gathering all this information and sharing it with us. There are so many inside stories and details that would be lost if not for the efforts of people like yourself. It's one thing to watch a great race. But it means so much more to hear the struggles of man and machine that got them to that point. The true grit of the men involved, politics, internal drama, and happy accidents that all came together to make one team on top over another. Thank you so much!

Ficarra is the best at the smooth story explaining any subject. Must be a wonderful thing to be next to him, learn so much just listening.

These are the stories I care about on VINWiki. Thank you, John for always being awesome!

Love a good car story to start off my day fixing wrecks, and Ficcara is one of the best to tell a good car story.

John, the way you tell the 917 story is nothing less than watching a full length, 2.5 hour long, nail biting, edge of your seat, high budget motion picture... I'm 67, and grew up in LA not far from Burbank where I got to see a genuine 917 on a flat bed trailer at a gas station. The truck was having tire issues, so for about an hour I got to see and touch the 917 as it was being trailer-ed to a movie set somewhere in Burbank. I asked permission if I could see it up close and maybe touch it... They said it was ok, as long as I did not try to sit in it. I was so amazed by how rough the car was built on the inside. And how massive the rear tires were! I was a big fan before, but after seeing it up close and touching it, I was inspired to become a race driver one way or an other... I eventually became the top three 400cc production class racer in So Calf for three years in a row. It wasn't quite car racing but that's all I could afford and I also didn't have the connections. Regardless my two dream cars have always been the 917 K, and a red 1963 Corvette. Back in 1996 I co-founded a bicycle component company called onZa and wanted to purchase a 917 road worthy replica from Australia, until my wife caught wind of it, and had to settle for an RX-7 R2.... Great Story, sincerely Dan Sotelo

Every time he tells a story he lights up with passion and has such a deep understanding of the history, legacy and heritage. Love learning about cool car stories and history.

THANK YOU FOR THE LONG FORMAT WITH JOHN! This was such a joy to listen to, John is such an AMAZING story teller. Please do more of these with him!!!!!!

I've gotta say, this is one of my favorite vinwiki episodes ever. Something about uncovering lesser known facts about a legendary race car. Old race cars and crude techniques hahaha, love it

It's amazing to hear about the aerodynamic problems they had with these early race cars. If they'd sniped 1 airplane engineer from any company, they probably would have had no problems with airflow separation. Back in the day, I guess you really had car people doing cars and figuring out Wright Brothers level discoveries all on their own. Similar things happened in drag racing - everyone's hood scoops for like 10 years were non-functional because they didn't figure out boundary layer splitters until someone who flew P-51s in The War clued them in.

I was a kid in the 70s and loved the 917. I was a 1/24 scale model builder and was upset that nobody had a 917. I never got one, ever! I got all the 911s, 962s, and even got a Porsche Speedster, but could never find my holy grail car the 917. I am glad it is getting some love.

Great story telling - was lucky enough to spend time with John Horsman a few years ago, and others in the JW Gulf team. Just one thing… your “Ferrari 512” that is pictured is actually a Lola T70. They both ran the Sunoco livery, but the Ferrari pictured ain’t no Ferrari!!

love, Love, LOVE hearing John telling stories!!

I want to see another video about the CAN-AM years. if I recall correctly, they won every race they finished and killed the series.

I'm glad I found this video! Great job. For me it was going back to my younger years. I worked for Vasek Polak under master mechanic Alwin Springer on 917's in Hermosa Beach, California. I worked on the CanAm cars, normally aspirated and turbocharged engines. We took the engines apart and rebuilt them as well as 908 engines. Milt Minter was the driver. I also worked on the number 22 and one of the Gulf cars in your video. These are amazing machines. Sorry I missed your show Saturday.

Born in 1952, I grew up with the tale that Gulf Research near Pittsburgh tested cars on the PA Turnpike.

They bring in John ficara himself for the weeks redemption

John is such a great story teller. He could talk about the history of soap box derby cars and I’d be riveted.

Dude!!!! I LOVE STORIES LIKE THIS!!! Trying something new. Knowing your on the right track...but its not working. Putting your head down and pushing...and finally the breakthrough you have been pushing toward!!! Awesome!!!

What a story, and this guy does a great job telling it. Love the history angle, please more car history videos.

Thank you so much for the amazing story and facts, the 917 also featured Birch Wood shift knob, which later being tribute by Carrera GT, Huayra BC; and the tech of the engine also went into the first RS of 911 the Carrera RS 2.7

Ficarra is such a great storyteller. Love his in-depth knowledge.

I love John's stories so much. I love the history, insight, a bit of humor, and everything he has told. Need more of him please.

Wow, John is such an awesome story teller. I'd happily listen to his telling of every motorsport story. This one hit home for me since I am lucky enough to have seen 917-016 with its current owners. It's absolutely stunning.

🤯 what an awesome history lesson for gear heads

I could listen to John telling old school racing Storys for hours!

This is such a fantastic story! The boldness, and just pure "we will do it to win" attitude is amazing! Well told John!

These stories that combine both engineering and passion are what make this channel special! Thanks Ed and john!

John is among the top story tellers you have! I love his stories. Ed, I hope between Rabbit, Travis, yourself and Chris, that roster never disappears from this channel!

John is a legend … he’s type a guy you wanna hang out after the football party drink till 4 o’clock in the morning and listen to the stories… what a great dude

I'm not that into cars or racing... not really sure how it ended up in my feed... but I found this whole video really fascinating, and couldn't stop listening. Probably has something to do with the joy of someone with an obvious passion, coupled with a deep knowledge, of a topic. Really well done.

As a kid, I was in LOVE with the 917 and then, when I was in High school, the owner of the body shop a few blocks from me had one as his springtime daily driver. Gulf racing trim.

Dude’s a great story teller!

John is SUCH a good storyteller

From 1971 - 75, I was studying automotive technology in a trade school in the U.S. Even without any of the substantial background provided in this video, I was immediately drawn to the 917's design when I first read about it. Thanks for this.

Awesome story and awesome delivery! Thank You!

That is so damn cool. Always loved Porsche for their passion for racing. It really shows in their road cars too as everyone talks about how nothing “corners like a porsche”. Hope someday I get to experience it 😂

Car guy, John Ficarra has the most high performance encyclopedic knowledge that is beyond humanly healthy!! And we LOVE him for it!!! Thank you JF.. Great car. Fantastic story. Incredible presentation!! Congratulations to Prof J. Ficcara Phd/MPH....LoL!!

These old stories are my favorite. Thank you!!!

Love the opportunity to learn something that I most likely would never know about. This channel is great because it just lets people tell the stories they are passionate about,without trying to make it something crazy to get subscribers. Good stories told by passionate people is all you need. Ty

Would love to sit at a bar with John and just hear stories and drink some beer.

yey, another masterpiece for sure , Historic Racing story by John

A dude who worked on the race team said "It only has two valves per cylinder, both the size of buckets!"....Legendary cars....

Peich's entry is the white car with red flashes in the start scene for Steve McQueen's Le Mans. It's literally flying, 917 held "Distance Covered" over 24hrs up until the Audi diesel takeover decades later, that's how fast it is. GOAT.

Not only did the 917 go on to dominate Can-Am racing after Le Mans, it dominated Can-Am so much that it literally killed the series in its final form of the 917/30.

Another fact about the 917K that he didn't mention It was the car which covered the most distance in LeMans at 3300 kms and 397 laps or something and that's absolutely bonkers!!

One of the guys who worked at the Porsche dealer he works at was there for the inspection, he said the sound of all of them running together that morning was deafening but amazing

Brilliant story and storyteller! Very captivating and enthusiastic, I was enthralled the entire time.

A Ficarra Classic

What was the actual loophole? Did I miss it? And what was the rule change that spelled the 917's demise?

This is one of the best storys on this channel. Thank you, thank you so much. MOAR!!!!

So happy I finally got time to catch up and the story from John was a great way to start

"The 917 was and is THE unstoppable race car" That is the greatest description of the 917 ever. Bravo, sir....Bravo

Dickie Atwood spent more time at the wheel of he and Elford's 917 at the cars first Le Mans than anyone but he sure wasn't saying, "It's a little disturbing." He was praying the thing would break down so he could get the hell out of it. It ultimately did break down... after 300+ laps and 22hrs.

What a well told story. The passion and enthusiasm kept me enthralled.

What about the greatet EVER? The 917/30????????

More Ficara…Less NFT punks

Wow! Thanks for filling in the history of the Porsche 917. I've been to the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen where they had several 917s on display along with a very well done exploded view of the 917 engine. Had no idea of the development of this great car.

Such a cool episode! I got to drive the Daytona oval with Richard Petty Driving Experience years ago and one thing that always stood out was the sightlines in the banked turns. From the drivers seat, the track arks up and left out the top of the windshield, limiting how far you can actually see. It's neat that the Porsche guys put a window in the roof to accommodate this, and it's neat that I got to experience what you're talking about!