917/30 From Australia

[reedminor]

The Bergspyder is the Kangaroo Car...

So named because at the Targa Florio the drivers were scared it would jump off the road!

Justin R

[LongRanger]

Odd to read some of these old posts . . .

I remember seeing/hearing Otis Chandler's 917/30, out at Riverside Raceway, must've been '79 or '80

Actual organized/legal vintage racing was just getting started, at that time. I remember walking through the 'pits' --- an open area spectators weren't allowed to park in . . . back behind the grandstands along the main straight. I was big into Shelbys, back then (even joined SAAC) and I remember eye-balling all the Mustangs and Cobras --- one in particular

Anyway, the Race cars went out on the track in groups, sorta organized by type + vintage (?), but --- except for the one big dusty 'off' by one of the Cobras . . . I don't remember much about the racing

I do remember the /30

When the time came for the Big Car Group to come out, unlike the usual/expected bark/roar/howl/snarl of all the usual suspects, at the opening lap, the /30 lead the field, by a car-length or so, but, eerily . . . almost noiselessly

By the 2nd go-around, Chandler's car was well-clear of the field --- multiple car-lengths

The lack of sound was un-nerving --- you actually had to listen for it . . . and all of us in Turn 7 did so, holding our breath

The car would show up, first in the distance, then --- mysteriously --- there it was --- right in front of us. No sensation of speed --- or even effort . . . just an odd rush-whoosh-deep breath kinda sound --- more felt than heard. As if what we were experiencing was more like all that mass pushing all that air . . . out of its way

Then there was the way the car looked. Nothing pointy-nosed or wasp-waisted, no slinkiness, no sexy curves or pretty proportions. Compared to all the familiar Lolas and Chaparrals and McClarens --- the Porsche was a shock to see . . . alien, other-worldly. The car was dark, square/slab-sided, hulking, kinda ugly/frightening, with this light-less/eye-less face, a huge bass-mouth oil cooler in a bluff nose . . fender-tops bristled by air vents. And watching it on approach was scary. I could just imagine what any driver in any other car would feel --- seeing something like this thing, rolling-up from behind

Dread

The car was huge, too --- with a long tail trailing, topped by these arching/sweeping bat-wing fins holding a wing that looked 10 feet across + 4 feet wide

And watching it circulate, whooshing around Riverside --- alien and apart, like that . . . was unsettling

I was expecting more of a spectacle, I suppose, a contest maybe --- even a race

But that wasn't a race. There was nothing there for it to race against

It just did what it did

. . . and we all watched

[gled49]

I believe 917/30-004 was purchased by Dave Morris @ Moorespeed in Campbell, Ca. The car is owned by Jerry Seifeld now. Gled