Before getting my hands on this rather unique Porsche endurance legend that never was, let's get to know more about this machine. Ready? Okay, sit down and enjoy a little story about the Pink Pig.
Of all the 917 versions in existence, the 917/20 is one of the most specially made version in history.
As a one-off, Porsche collaborated with SERA to combine the strengths of both the longtail and the short versions of the 917, resulting to its extremely wide body, extremely rounded wheel cut-outs, hidden wheels in the housing, and low and flat nose, while the track width remain intact.
The "Pink Pig" theme on the 917/20's paint job remains one of the most recognizable racing liveries in history. It was Porsche Anatole Lapine who penned the idea of this theme by coloring it pink and label each body parts according to butcher-style cuts.
In pre-race qualifications, it was the fastest machine in Le Mans, theoretically, but at the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 917/20 crashed and was unable to race.
It's kinda of a shame that despite pre-race results that turned out to be rather good, it got crashed in an accident and wasn't able to live up to the success story of the Gulf-liveried 917 that made popular by the film with Steve McQueen on it but despite being the masterpiece that never was, the pink pig-themed machine remains one of the most unique designs in the history of Porsche's motorsport involvement, so unique, a certain 911 machine at last June's Le Mans paid tribute to it by donning the famous Pink Pig theme. Anyway, doing a pseudo-historical recreation, Porsche says that the 917/20 combines the attributes of the 917 LH and the 917K but as I tried it, I realized that it takes some spartan driving manners to get through corners because the prehistoric dynamic driving character really puts off even the most modernized drivers wouldn't understand how it works and how it goes but the more they drive this thing, the more will realize its untapped potential this pink pig can go if this car hadn't crashed at the 1971 Le Mans endurance race.
As fans wanted to find out the hidden talent that was wasted after the crash, the producers set up a little challenge to lap this car round Le Mans and while today's Circuit de la Sarthe is different than it were many years ago, the 917/20 is ready to take on the modern Le Mans track in a fair weather. So, how much talent the pink pig never got the chance to show it after the crash? Let's find out...
Having driving this machine over and over again, I got the impression that a handful of drivers never been brave enough to handle the intimidating character this Pink Pig possess and that is why it got crashed and never raced again despite this machine boasts the same qualities of the two, unless if Porsche called in someone who is brave enough to handle this machine but sadly, they never had the chance to do so.
It really is a sad tale why the 917/20 never lived up to the success story of its other variants but with its unique theme, the pink pig considers to be the perfect art in motion and despite its bitter loss, Porsche remains one of the most notable carmakers that loves Le Mans the most and even though their 919 Hybrid racing days of this era is over, their 911 machines continue to carry on the legacy that forever cemented their motorsport involvement and that is why we give Stuttgart a big thanks for remaining committed to race.
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