1:12 Porsche 917 Long Tail '69

1:12 Porsche 917 Long Tail '69

The Sportscar World Championship, a world endurance racing series that began in 1953, combined with the International Championship for Sports Cars series in 1966, allowing for prototype cars to compete in the series. In the same year, Ferdinand Piëch, head of the Porsche engineering team at the time, decided to enter the category and went to develop Porsche's first prototype car - the 906 (Carrera 6). The 906, powered by an air-cooled flat-six engine, would eventually be upgraded to the 910 (Carrera 10), 907 and subsequently the 908 which had an increased displacement. However, the 908 was no match for the rivaling GT40, and the championship title went to Ford instead.
In order to turn the tide, Piëch's engineering team set off to design a new machine during the summer of 1968. Using the 908 as a base, a new air cooled 4,494cc flat-12 engine was developed, and sat upon a lightweight aluminum tubular frame. The rear wing flaps were connected to a series of suspensions at the rear of the FRP based car body, allowing the wings to be movable. The car was completed on a tight schedule in order to enter and pass the homologation testing during spring of the 1969 season. Unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, the new machine was named the “917”.
The 917 displayed its capabilities and set the fastest time at Le Mans during its debut year, but due to stability issues it was unable to leave any results at Spa 1000km, Nürburgring 1000km nor Le Mans during the 1969 season. However it managed to take its first victory at the season finale Austria 1000km, setting the starting line of success for the 917 series. In 1970 the 917 would evolve into the 917K and 917LH, with both would dominate the racing scene. In 1972 the focus switched to the North American Can-Am series and various victories were achieved using the 917/10 and 917/30 variants.
Porsche would continue to show dominance with the 917K, 936, 956, 962 and continuing models in the following years, but perhaps none would have been possible without the 917 building the foundation first in 1969.K344 Ver.A : 917LH

• - based on the 917 that debuted in 1969, specifically the two long tail versions used in the 24 hours of Le Mans – the blue coloured car #12 (V.Elford / R.Attwood) and the yellow coloured car #14 (R.Stommelen / K.Ahrens Jr.)
  - a full detailed, multi-material kit featuring white metal, resin, etched parts, turned metal parts, rubber tires, silk screen decals and various cords allowing for maximum representation of the original vehicle.
  - aluminum turned parts used for wheel, headlight rims, front and rear damper shafts, wheel shafts and lock nuts.
  - rear cowl and doors can open and close post construction, allowing full view of the detailed interior after completion.
  - tires come pre-printed with maker logo.

●K866 - 1/12scale Fulldetail Kit : 917 Long Tail '69
　1969 LM 24hours
　#12 V.Elford/R.Attwood / #14 R.Stommelen/K.Ahrens Jr.