Porsche 917: Count Rossi’s Daily Driver

The Porsche 917 is the car that gave Porsche its first overall win at Le Mans in 1970. It is a terrifying, 600 hp, flat-12 monster made of magnesium tubing that weighs less than a VW Beetle. It was never meant for the road. But Count Gregorio Rossi (of Martini & Rossi fame) wanted one.

The Loophole

In 1974, Rossi bought a retired 917 K chassis (030). He asked Porsche to make it road legal.

• Modifications: They added mufflers (barely), turn signals, and leather seats.
• The Problem: No country in Europe would register it. It was too loud, too low, and too dangerous.
• The Solution: Rossi found a loophole in Alabama, USA. He registered the car there on the condition he never brought it to Alabama. With US plates, he could legally drive it in Europe.

The Specs

• Engine: 4.9-liter air-cooled Flat-12.
• Power: 600 hp.
• Weight: 800 kg.
• 0-100 km/h: 2.7 seconds (in 1970!).

Driving It

Driving a 917 on the street is insanity.

• Cockpit: You sit so far forward that your feet are ahead of the front axle. If you hit anything, your ankles are the crumple zone.
• Width: It takes up the entire lane.
• Noise: Even with mufflers, it is deafening. It spits flames in traffic.

Count Rossi famously drove it from Stuttgart to Paris. It remains the only permanently road-registered 917 in the world (though a few others have temporary plates). It is the ultimate “I have more money than sense” flex.