Porsche chooses its 5 most iconic racers

Derek Bell, five-time Le Mans champ and Bathurst 1000 competitor in in the late-‘70s and early-‘80s, presents Porsche’s most iconic racers in a video released by the brand.

The cars, chose by Porsche, are primarily from Porsche’s earlier days of sports car racing, with Bell having even competed in one entry to the list in his hey-day alongside Hans-Joachim Stuck.

He starts with the Porsche 911 GT1 at the ‘bottom’ of the list in 5th place, being the most modern vehicle on the list.

The late-‘90s Le Mans racer won in the GT1 class on its debut in 1996 with Stuck at the wheel, the man who was once Bell’s co-driver.

Its 3.2-litre twin-turbo Flat-6 eventually proved enough to take the Le Mans victory outright in 1998, though only weighing about one tonne probably helped.

The 904 Carrera GTS comes next on the list, with the car used in the video actually having belonged to Ferdinand Porsche.

Bell points out that it was the first Porsche to wear the GTS badge, and the first to use Porsche’s glass-fibre construction (or GFK).

The 917KH is next, a car which this author chose as ‘most beautiful’ in a recent article put together by MOTOR staff.

The air-cooled flat-12 is good for around 450kW, as opposed to what Bell states in the clip, and weighs only 800kg.

For the second and first place entries in the list, Bell goes into more detail, so we recommend watching the video to find out more about the 962C from the man who actually drove it.

He even drove another version of the car with none other than former Top Gear and Fifth Gear host Tiff Needell.

Lastly, in first place, Porsche gets sentimental and picks… actually, we won’t spoil it. Watch the video, enjoy the shiny metal and carbon fibre, and find out for yourself.