This unusual race car was entered by Porsche in the 1971 LeMans 24hr race and ran as high as third overall before it retired from the race after it's driver Reinhold Joest crashed under braking while in 5th place overall. The race was won by a short tail 917K which I also have in my collection and which can be seen here.
The 917-20 was an attempt by Porsche to combine the better handling of the short-tail 917Ks with the high speed stability of the long-tail 917Ls (which were fast in a straight line but generally handled poorly). With the help of French aerodynamics research company SEMA, the solution the designers hit on was to make a short but very wide body, which was as short as the 917K, and therefore as stable when cornering, but which was considerably wider to prevent the airflow over the car being affected by the wheels and therefore gain the straight line speed benefits the longtail 917L had. The new design seemed to work, and consequently the 917-20 could hit a higher top speed on the Mulsanne straight at LeMans than the 917K's could, but could also keep up with the short-tail car through the corners (which the long-tail car couldn't). A new bluff front for the car was also developed to minimise airflow under the car (which caused lift and hence made the car less stable) which was also used on the factory developed longtail 917Ls for the 1971 24hr of Le Mans. Privateer teams were upset that Porsche had introduced an advanced works car more advanced than their 917Ks and Ls, but in the end it was a 917K that won the race. The following year (1972), rule changes meant the 917's were no longer eligible to race at LeMans, so the Pink Pig was retired after having only raced once. The car is now part of the Porsche museum collection.
When the car was first seen in public on the practice days for Le Mans, it was painted in Porsche factory white. The press immediately called it the pig due to it's portly dimensions and the name stuck.
To go with it's less than flattering nickname, the car received a pink paint job together with graphics representing a series of butchers cuts for pork! It was also known as "Big Bertha" and if you look closely at the piece of bodywork behind the right rear light under the engine cover (see the photo below) you can see someone painted in "Bertha" as a joke. Martini who were the main sponsors for the car in the 1971 race were not impressed and refused to allow their logo to be shown on the car!
Driving the car in 1971 were the German driver pairing of Reinhold Joest and Willi Kauhsen. Kauhsen was the main Porsche test driver for the 917 program and had finished 2nd overall in the 1970 Le Mans 24hrs in a 917L. Joest as a driver never managed to win Le Mans, his best result being 2nd overall in 1980. His racing team set up in 1978 has won Le Mans several times, including four overall wins with Porsches (1984-5, 1996-97) and six wins with Audi, (2000-2002, 2004-2006). Team Joest manage the Audi endurance racing effort and as such are the "factory" Audi team.
The reason the car crashed in 1971 was not clear at the time and it was felt to have been driver error by Joest (who was driving at the time) that caused the crash. He lost control under braking and the nose of the car smashed into the guardrail putting it out of the race. The car was only repaired cosmetically and was placed in the Porsche museum after the race as a static display. Years later Porsche decided to properly repair the car and turn it back into a running exhibit again. When the car was stripped down, the front brakes were found to have been completely worn out, which was what caused Joest to loose control under braking. As the car had less aerodynamic drag than the 917Ks, the brakes wore out quicker as they had to work harder to slow the car down especially at the end of the long Mulsanne straight. The schedule for replacing the brake pads during the race did not take this factor into consideration and so the brakes wore out before they would have been changed in the pits. Hence Joest was unfairly blamed for crashing the car!
This is a lovely model by Minichamps, and is a good example of how they often release unusual unique subjects in 1:18th (unlike AUTOart, Kyosho, Maisto, et al who seem to copy each other constantly). It comes in a special presentation "Pink Pig" box which has a built in speaker that plays an oinking pig sound followed by the engine sound of the 917-20 powering it's way out of the pits. Very cool! Unfortunately the on/off switch on my box was broken, so in order to turn off the loud sound (which was getting tiresome after 10 minutes trying to turn it off!) I had to take the batteries out, but it still works perfectly when they are in.
The unusual paint job is very well done on the model, together with such touches as the unofficial graffiti under the rear engine cover. The cockpit is realistic and looks very cramped! I'm sure larger drivers found it claustrophobic to say the least! The air cooled flat 12 cylinder engine is very nicely done indeed. The model also wears a fine looking set of Firestone racing tires. Another nice touch is the use of black decal stripes to simulate the black duct tape around the headlight covers. Tape was often applied to the headlights of endurance racers so as to help keep them in one piece if hit by a stone or other debris, and also to prevent the clear perspex covers flying off at speed which had been known to happen!
Although the car only raced once and was a one of a kind Porsche, it did also appear at practice for Le Mans in a plain white livery (plus some sponsor logos). I'm surprised Minichamps have not decided to release it in white as well to get more milage out of this unique model design as I for one would most likely buy a plain white version to display along side the full on "Pink Pig" version!
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