Le Mans will also feature a legend: the Porsche 917 LH

As part of all the events that will bring the 24 Hours of Le Mans to life, the organizing club ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest) is going to unveil the Porsche 917 LH prototype that they have kept in their museum all these years. The car was completely restored over the past winter, in a joint effort between Motul and the association that protects the historic cars that have raced at Le Mans.

In 1972, Porsche donated the car to ACO, after replacing the engine with a brand-new one. This Porsche 917 was one of the official Porsche cars that set the Le Mans lap record, which still stands to this day (3:13.6), from the era when the previous circuit layout was in use, without the chicanes on the famous Hunaudières straight.

There were two versions of the 917, a long-tail body and a short-tail body (this one is the long-tail version), a machine that was frightening to drive, according to the drivers of the day. This particular 917 had certain features that were very advanced for a racing car from the early seventies, such as a chassis made from magnesium alloys (highly flammable, by the way), although it failed to finish the 1971 race, retiring due to overheating.

Gérard Larrousse, its driver in 1971 and winner of the 1973 and 1974 editions, will take a few laps of the circuit ahead of the race in this very Porsche, which will be running on the Le Mans track for the second time in almost 40 years.

Via: Planet Le Mans