• History
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  • A brief history of the Porsche 910-023
  • This 910 was one of the last of this type to be built by the factory, as evidenced by its registration number:
    S – ZL 853, used during the Mugello Grand Prix in July 1967.
    The works 910s were registered in 5 series:
    S-ZL 121 to 126, S-ZL 225 to 230, S-ZL 514 to 516, S-ZL 692 to 694, S-ZL 852 to 854.

    Originally powered by an 8-cylinder, four cam engine, the last three cars (023, 027, 028) were raced as works team cars and benefitted from the experience gained by the team at the Targa Florio in May (with 012, 024, 025) in temperatures that climbed to 35°C in the shade, and later at the Nurbürgring in June. To cope with the high temperatures at Mugello, they were fitted with additional air intakes:
    - On the extreme forward right side: a circular intake for forced flow towards the driver.
    - On the forward right-side wing: a triangular air inlet under the windshield, fitted to improve the cooling of the oil circuit
    - A larger orifice in the bonnet to cool the oil radiator.


    At the Mugello 500 km Grand Prix in 1967 the factory ran three 910s: two 8-cylinder cars - 025 was raced to victory by Mitter/Schutz and 023, driven by Stommelen/Neerpasch, finished 2nd after 8 laps of the 66-km circuit. For the entire race the temperature was … 40°C in the shade!

    After replacing the engine with a 2-litre 6-cylinder unit and changing the bodywork (another modification for Mugello was the fitting of a 3-horn klaxon in the forward right-side wing), 023 was sold in September 1967 to Hans Dieter Dechent (Lufthansa Racing Team) who entered it in the Paris 1,000-km race in October with works drivers and mechanics. It won an impressive 3rd place overall in the hands of Herrmann/Schutz, beating the Ferrari P4 (4 litres) driven by Siffert/Piper and the GT40 Mk2B (7 litres) raced by Schlesser/Ligier.

    At the Dijon and Paris Grand Prix in May, and then at the Nurbürgring 1,000 km in 1968, the car bore Lufthansa colours and was the first sports prototype to be sponsored by Martini (Dechent would take over, in 1970, as the head of the Martini Racing stable). The car has the same livery today.

    The Kremer brothers campaigned the car between 1969-71 and sent it to Daytona in 1972 to be raced by its new owner: Rainer Brezinka (Canada). It won an excellent 7th place overall in the 12 Hours of Sebring that year.

    From 1972 to 1976, “023” raced at Can-Am and its finish at Mosport (22/8/76) confirmed its place in history as the sports prototype with the longest racing participation (1967-1976) in the World Endurance Championship.

    From 1976 to 2003 it was restored by the greatest collectors of racing Porsches in the USA (J. Lewis, J. Hayes – Gunnar Racing Museum).

    Paul Newman drove it at Moroso (Florida) in 1994.

    910-023 was granted FIA Heritage Certificate No. 001, the only 910 to receive this recognition.
  • It has been driven in historical races in Europe since 2005.
    6th at the Tour of Corsica in 2008 and 1st in class, 3rd in the Tunis Grand Prix 2008, 3rd in the Tour de France Automobile 2009, 2nd at Mont Ventoux hillclimb 2011.
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