Question about a 917 photo

[gruen911]

A friend of mine gave me a great photo of three 917's in a garage being prepped for the 71 Le Mans. We both noticed that two of the cars which had their rear lids taken off each had spare wheels tied down inside their cars. Were spare wheels required to be carried by each car for the Le Mans race?

[denizen224]

I believe they were, at least during that era. I've seen cutaway drawings of GT40s (the LeMans racers, not the street homolagation cars) which show spare tires being fitted.

[911quest]

I believe at the time they were based on a "production" car and had to have a spare and I think they were supposed to be able to carry lugage also

[72targa]

Even better, there were requirements for luggage space!

[denizen224]

I believe at the time they were based on a "production" car and had to have a spare and I think they were supposed to be able to carry lugage also

Yes, you're right! I remember seeing not long ago (maybe on the Rennsport Reunion show?) somebody pointing out the "luggage area" in the back of a 917! It looked big enough for a couple pair of clean underwear.

[Jim Garfield]

This Cobra is a good example of the hoops that had to be jumped through to meet the luggage requirement at Le Mans in the '60s.

PICT0168_3.jpg

[jhora]

Yes they had luggage boxes and a spare tire....
Here is are a few of pictures from 2001 when I got to sit in the 1970 Porsche 917K Martini & Rossi #35...that's me sitting behind the steering wheel and a picture of the rear end with the deck up showing the luggage boxes on each side in front of the rear wheels and the spare tire between the luggage boxes held down by a white Y strap....also one of the driver compartment and if you look close you can see the ignition key to the left of the steering wheel that has holes drilled in it...talk about weight reduction....then one of my arm on the steering wheel thinking I am driving at night at Le Mans...oh yeah....sorry for the bad quality of pictures...they were made with my first digital camera...not very good

John

[Jim Garfield]

This is the space where the luggage boxes go.

[911quest]

Could you imagine that being the deal breaker goes something like this....All orginal 917 for sale complete except missing luggage

[Jim Garfield]

But with this list of autographs.....