Porsche 917 vs BMW M1 Procar Police Chase

no reason and don't ask because I have no idea...

Who pays for damage to a race car?

Over the week end an article popped up on Twitter telling the story of the dispute between 1960's race driver David Piper and motoring journalist/author/classic car racer Mark Hales.  

Piper has sued and won judgement against Hales for the cost of an engine rebuild on a replica Porsche 917 he had lent the journalist for a magazine article in 2009.    Boiled down to Hales maintaining there was a problem with the gearbox,  Piper saying Hales "money shifted" the air cooled 12 blowing it up.

If you follow classic car racing you will have seen Hales drive some of the world's rarest and most precious cars.   If you have ever seen a Goodwood Revival, it's pretty clear many owners of these rolling treasures appreciate the very real risk that they will get bent.  Certainly they understand, as anyone who has run cars on track, that every part of a car is a consumable destined for replacement or rebuild.  But mistakes can an do happen.



In a modern race car this would not have been an issue,  a perfect example at last year's 24 Hour of Daytona our friend Spencer Cox had the engine let go in practice on a TRG Porsche GT3.   Porsche engineers plugged in a computer and in less than an hour determined it was their fault and rolled in a crate with a new lump.    Montreal GP this past year, CG was racing Ferrari Challenge, tearing through the field when he lost 3rd gear.   Later that day data was sent to Maranello and Ferrari covered the gearbox under warranty (much to CG's relief, I'm sure).  

The issue with older cars is murkier.  I was surprised to read a complete engine rebuild for a Porsche 917 is "only" $58000 and considering Mr. Piper owns the cars in the clip below amongst other things,  it seems bad sport to go after Hales like that.  One wonders if there was more to it and in fact, if you read the judgment motivations,  it does not look so good for Hales who was less than clear in giving evidence and seems to have made some ill advised statements.




This morning reading Pistonheads I saw Chris Harris has written about the case, exploring it from the working journalist angle.  Not surprisingly he's very much in Mr. Hales' camp.

This particular case did not involve racing, just a photo shoot apparently but I'm curious about how you approach the subject of lending yours or driving someone else's car in a track situation.  
What about endurance racing, if you are part of a team and one of the drivers has a problem,  how have you dealt with a mechanical issue?   How about if the car gets hit though no fault of the driver, or if a driver goes off in the rain for example?   Discuss!

Villa D'Este 917

This is an unrestored, 1969 Porsche 917K chassis 015.  In 1970 this car won the 24Hours of Daytona and this year in Cernobbio, it was the winner of the 2012 Trofeo ASI for the best preserved post-war car.  It was entered by Mark Finburgh.

Thank you to Andrea, 478, Zio and all my Italian tracktard friends for these pictures, you'll find videos after the jump.

The 917 is signed under the hood

Siffert-Bell

1971 Porsche 917, Siffert-Bell by Rainer Schlegelmilch

Weekend reading: What's the coolest car brochure ever?

I'm sure there are plenty cool ones but we submit it does not not get much more awesome than this 1969 homologation special. Can you top it?

Pin It

Porsche 917 slot car track.

Painful photoshop fail aside, not a bad gift idea for the car guy who has everything....

"Born from our passion of vintage racing, Slot Mods is proud to offer limited-edition replicas of cars from one of the greatest eras of racing. Our first offering: the RCR 917 that Vic Elford and Gerald Larrousse drove to victory at the 1971 12 Hours of Sebring. With just a push of a button, the body opens to reveal the ultimate slot car racing experience!

The RCR 917 is a faithful reproduction with fiberglass body panels true to its original shape. Specifications: rolling aluminum 3-piece original-style center lock wheels, race-worn tires, working headlights and taillights, and inside…a beautiful 1/32 scale wooden slot car raceway, featuring handcrafted, period-correct signs, banners, aluminum Armco railing, trees and structures.

But we couldn’t stop there. Also available to test your endurance, we’re offering the RCR GT40, RCR P4, and RCR T70. Choose period livery, or your own design."

Via SlotMods.com

Nineseventeen

phtot by Danny Sullivan.

Why is Vic Elford driving a priceless Porsche 917 in a nasty parking lot?

Why is this priceless historic Porsche 917-04, the classic "Hippie" liveried long tail, anywhere near a graffiti covered wall?

Andrew Henderson of Speed Captured Motorsport Photography explains:

"The car is owned by Dr. Frederick Simeone and is displayed in his Simeone Foundation Museum in Philadelphia, PA.
A few times a year Dr. Simeone picks one or two cars from his collection and starts them and runs them on the paved lot behind the museum. He does not vintage race any of his cars so they are not driven in anger. This particular event was special because Vic Elford was there and gave a talk about his career before jumping in the 917 (and the 962 in my other shot) for a quick spin.

Car was purchased by Vasek Polak from Porsche in 1975. It is a bit confusing as some stories say that Vasek bought the chassis and built a 917 from his parts inventory other stories say that this is the only complete 917 L ever sold by Porsche. When Vasek Polak died the car was sold to Symbolic Motors and later bought by Dr. Simeone I believe at Christie's auction in Pebble Beach in 1998.
There is more confusion as to the authenticity of the car and which chassis number it really is but I'm not going into that here."
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