Porsche 914 And 917 Celebrate 50 Years With Exhibitions

Porsche says that it has a ‘commitment to making company history tangible’, something that it has succeeded with in its 70th anniversary celebrations in 2018. Numerous historic cars toured the world giving everyone the opportunity to remember Porsche’s past achievements.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the legendary 917 racer and 914 sports car, with Porsche putting on a pair of exhibitions at its museum to celebrate the respective milestones.

The Porsche 917 was first revealed 50 years ago at the 1969 Geneva Motor Show, going on to secure Porsche's first ever Le Mans 24 Hours victory in 1970 along with a further success a year later.

Powered by a Type 912 flat-12 engine, a 917 in race trim could get from 0-62mph in just 2.3 seconds and achieve a top speed of 240mph. As well as becoming a world-famous star on track, this Porsche headlined the 1971 movie ‘Le Mans’, with Steve McQueen driving a Gulf Racing liveried car.

The Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany will create one of its largest exhibitions to celebrate the 917 anniversary. Dubbed ‘Colors of Speed – 50 Years of the 917’ it will feature ten examples of this historic racing car – including chassis 001, which has just been restored. This display will run from May 14 to September 15.

View in gallery

Porsche’s entry-level sports car of the 1960s and ‘70s was the little 914. The joint venture between Volkswagen and Porsche went on to become a big seller and paved the way for today’s Boxster models. A 50th anniversary exhibition for the 914 called ‘50 Years of the 914 – typically Porsche’ will be on show from June 2 to July 7. 120 privately owned 914s are to attend its opening.

The Porsche Panamera also has a special birthday with this being its 10th year in existence. The high performance saloon is now in its second generation with a wide variety of powertrains on offer. Porsche’s Customer Centre will have its own Panamera exhibit this spring.

If you don’t live nearby, but would love to visit the museum, fear not. The Porsche Museum will go on the road this year and bring exhibits to multiple events around the world. Retro Classics in Stuttgart, Germany is the first stop, but after it will travel to England for the Goodwood Festival of Speed, before attending other events in Germany. Porsche will also be sending other historic cars to other European events and the Rennsport Reunion in America.