1970 Porsche 917 KH Coupe`

The Beast

CarshowClassic.com tells the story. 

The 1970 Porsche 917 KH Coupé was called “The Beast” during its time. This isn’t surprising at all, considering its power and its design. And the intimidating nickname was fitting, as it was the most successful race car of the year.

There are many reasons why the 1970 Porsche 917 KH Coupé is considered to be-one of the most powerful and successful race cars in the history of the automobile, and not just-among the cars that Porsche has developed. 

For one, it has the reputation to back it up; during its release, it was called-“The Beast.” It also became iconic after 1970 because of the Hollywood movie-LeMans, starring Steve McQueen. Of course, the reputation of the Porsche 917 KH Coupé-was more than just a legacy or hype. It really had the credentials to back it up, backing it one of-the most successful 917 out of the six 917s created.

The 1970 Porsche 917 KH Coupé was intended to race the 24 Hours of Le Mans-after a disappointing car at the same race a year before. The result was the Porsche 917 KH-Coupé, which was raced by team Salzburg. Although the initial 917 did not do so well in the-previous Le Mans, many teams and companies knew it was going to be a very tough competitor for the-top prize. Hence, Enzo Ferrari resorted to selling half of his company to Fiat, only to finance the-creation of the Ferrari 512. This investment proved to be somewhat success, although not as-successful as they expected. 

In the end, the Porsche 917 KH Coupé won the Le Mans that year, followed by-the Porsche 917L and the Porsche 908. The Ferrari only managed to win fourth and fifth place, with-all their other Ferrari 512 (the remaining nine of their total 11 512 entries) did not finish at-all. This was momentous for Porsche not only because they won against the powerhouse Ferrari. The-win was a great step forward for the company because this was their first Le Mans win. Now they-discarded their underdog reputation and became a major competitor in the racing-world.