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The 70s, a Porsche decade


One can argue that the 70’s were the Porsche decade. The company’s cars won Le Mans for the first time (and then four additional times), won hundreds (if you consider class wins, thousands) of races in all corners of the world, by that meaning every continent, dozens of championships, including world championships. A number of types represented the company in such wins: several versions of the 917, 908, 911, Carrera, 934, 914, 935, 936 won major races, even the old 910 and 907 could be called upon to win an occasional minor race. Porsches dominated at times not only the World Makes Championship, but also Can Am, Interserie, European GT Championship, DRM, IMSA, Trans Am. Porsches won domestic championships in the USA, Germany, Netherlands, Benelux, Italy, Brazil, Spain, Mexico, Sweden and other countries. A Porsche Carrera was also the first turbo car to win a World Championship race, which also happened to be the last Targa Florio valid for the world championship. Porsches also won in hillclimbs, rally, autocross. This level of success was sustained throughout the decade – as the 917 was the dominating force in the 1970 Makes Championship and Le Mans, the 935 was doing the winning in 1979. Porsche cars comprised most Le Mans starters during the decade, sometimes, well over half of the field. Porsche quite simply ruled endurance racing all over the world, from Japan to Senegal and the USA.   

Curiously, there was no Porsche representation in Formula 1 during the 70`s, in any shape or form. While Porsche Formula 2 cars ran sporadically in the 50’s, a bona fide Porsche Formula 1 ran and won in the 1.5 formula of the 60’s, the TAG Porsche engine ran and conquered Formula 1 in the 80’s and there was even an ill-fated Porsche-Footwork tie up in the 90’s, Porsche was absent from the Formula 1 scene, even though the 908 Porsche was equipped with a 3-liter power plant, excellent for endurance but insufficiently powerful for Formula 1.



To find out a bit more about Porsche’s achievements in the 70’s, you may consider acquiring my book Motor Racing in the 70’s – Pivoting from Romantic to Organized.Much more information about racing in the 70's can be found in my book MOTOR RACING IN THE 70'S - PIVOTING FROM ROMANTIC TO ORGANIZED. It is a 472-page book about racing in the period,  with 242 photos, covering Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 3, Formula 5000, other lower formulae, Formula Indy, NASCAR, Touring Cars, Sports Cars, Can Am, Trans Am, IMSA, DRM, local racing scenes, main driver profiles, plus long lists of makes that raced in the period, main drivers and racing venues from 85 countries, year highlights, performance and financial analysis of the sport. It can be bought at Amazon shops in the USA, UK, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Canada, Australia, Japan, 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1732674426

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