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Porsche 908 - a racing rarity with an international success story

Name: Porsche 908 1968
Brand: Porsche

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Created on March 7, 2016

Text:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

Bruno von Rotz

Besitzer/Owner / Courtesy Gooding & Company

Steve Van Den Hemel

Louis Galanos

Porsche AG

Archiv

Daniel Reinhard

Bruno von Rotz

Besitzer/Owner / Courtesy Gooding & Company

Steve Van Den Hemel

Louis Galanos

Porsche AG

Archiv

Porsche 908 (1968) - short tail version in factory livery

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Porsche 908 (1968) at the Porsche Rennsport Reunion V

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Porsche 908 (1968) - short tail version with tear-off edge

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Porsche 908 (1968) - View into the cockpit - steering and right, gearshift on the outside right

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Porsche 908 (1968) - View of the three-liter eight-cylinder engine

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Porsche 907/8 Daytona (1967) - Presentation for journalists

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Porsche 908 (1968) - Factory photo of the three-liter sports car in Zuffenhausen in May 1968

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Porsche Museum - Porsche 908 (1968) - fiberglass-reinforced body of the racing sports car

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Porsche 908 (1968) - in the pits at Spa in 1968 - Rolf Stommelen and Hans Herrmann are waiting for their turn on the right

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Porsche 908 (1968) - at the endurance race in Spa in 1968, where the car finished third

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Porsche 908 (1968) - Porsche won the one-make world championship in 1968. Here Jo Siffert drives a 908 Langheck Coupé to victory in Spa

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Porsche 908 (1968) - the Soler-Rolg/Linge car in front of Jo Siffert at the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans

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Porsche 908 KH (1968) - Battle in the first few hours, Siffert and Bonnier lead the field at the 24 Hours of Daytona

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Porsche 908 LH (1969) at the 24 Hours of Daytona 1969 - Jo Siffert in the #50 Porsche 908 Longtail

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Porsche 908 LH (1969) at the 24 Hours of Daytona 1969 - The Langeheck 908s of Jo Siffert and Hans Hermann with number #50 and #54 of Rolf Stommelen and Kurt Ahrens Jr.

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Porsche 908 LH (1968) - 2nd place in the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans for Herrmann/Larrousse

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Porsche 907 KH (1968) - at the 1968 12 Hours of Sebring - Jo Siffert with the best Le Mans start

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Porsche 907 KH (1968) - at the 12 Hours of Sebring 1968 - Le Mans start

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Porsche 907 KH (1968) - behind a Porsche Carrera 6 and a Ford GT40 at the 24 Hours of Daytona

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Porsche 907 LH (1968) - three 907s with 2.2-liter V8 engines chase the leading Ford GT40 at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1968

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Porsche 907 LH (1968) - Elford/Neerpasch/Stommelen win the 1968 24 Hours of Daytona

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Porsche 908 KH (1968) - Hans Herrmann in the short-tail Porsche 908

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Porsche 908 LH (1968) - together with the STP turbine car in the racing car exhibition at the 1969 Geneva Motor Show

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Porsche 908 LH (1969) - Victory by Siffert/Redman at the 1000 km of Spa in 1969

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Porsche 908 LH (1968) - start of the 1000 km of Spa - on the left Hawkins on Lola, in the middle Ickx on Ford GT Mirage and on the right Jo Siffert in the 908

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Porsche 908 (1968) - at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1969, in the foreground Ickx/Oliver in the Ford GT40 - one lap before the end

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Porsche 908 (1968) - Ickx/Oliver in the Ford GT40 can no longer be denied victory at Le Mans in 1969, the closest finish in Le Mans racing history

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Porsche 907 (1967) - Peter Mattli brings the aged Porsche to 4th place overall at the 1000 km of Monza in 1972

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Porsche 908 LH at Le Mans 1972 - Jo Siffert A.T.E. Racing achieved 3rd place at Le Mans 1972 with Reinhold Joest - the same car won the 1000km of Monza in 1969

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Porsche 908 LH (1969) at the Porsche Rennsport Reunion V

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Porsche 908 LH (1969) - with number H5 in the Concours d'Elégance at the Schloss Bensberg Classics 2015

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Porsche 908 LH (1969) at the special exhibition in the Porsche Museum: The exhibition in the Porsche Museum is transformed into a race track in the spirit of the famous endurance race.

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Porsche 908 LH (1969) - just 120 meters short of the long-tail coupé optimized for aerodynamics, driven by Hans Herrmann at Le Mans in 1969 - at Retro Classics Stuttgart 2012

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Summary

The Porsche 908 succeeded the successful 907 and was intended to bridge the waiting time for the Porsche 917. However, the 31 coupés built proved to be very fast and secured Porsche the sports car championship in 1969. And even after the baton was handed over to the Porsche 917, the 908 variants did not stop winning. This report describes the history of the Porsche 908 and shows it in historical racing photos and current footage.

This article contains the following chapters

The new eight-cylinder
The 908 as an evolution of the 907
On board the Porsche prototype
Chassis number 908-011
Chassis numbers / types

Estimated reading time: 6min

Preview (beginning of the article)

After the successful Porsche 904 and 906 (Carrera 6) plastic racing sports cars, the Zuffenhausen-based company continued to develop its lightweight prototypes. The 906 from 1966 was followed by the 910 in 1967, still equipped with the six-cylinder boxer engine. However, it was already apparent with the successor Porsche 907 that six cylinders were no longer sufficient for the necessary power output, and consideration was given to an eight-cylinder engine. One had already been used in the formula car, so experience was available.An eight-cylinder engine with a displacement of 2.2 liters was used in the Porsche 907 with its long-tail body. However, because the FIA changed its rules and introduced a prototype class with a displacement of up to three liters for the season, a larger engine was needed.

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