Almost 50 years ago to the day, a one-off Porsche 917 left Weissach bound for Paris. It was not in an enclosed trailer, which would be fitting of such a thoroughbred racing machine. Instead, it left under its own power, via public roads.
The conversion of an endurance-racing 917—chassis number 30—into a street-legal supercar was done at the request of Teofilo Guiscardo Rossi di Montelera, “Count Rossi” to his friends.
The conversion meant that the rowdy 5.0-liter flat-12 engine would need mufflers. Thankfully, they did little to tame the glorious sound. The seats were upholstered in tan Hermes leather while the remainder of the interior was wrapped in black suede. The requisite lights, mirrors, and horn were also added.
Freshly restored, but keeping its original interior and Martini Silver paint, that same car still thrills its owner on the roads of southern France. Porsche recently filmed the car in its current state and gave us a taste of what it’s like to enjoy a race-bred machine in the French countryside. It also gave us a scintillating hint at an upcoming model, set to be revealed in June. We’ve got only a silhouette to go by, but the image is unmistakable. It’s a 963. Porsche asked, “What if?” and it doesn’t take much imagination to picture a 963 given the 917K road car treatment. Is a street-legal 963 Weissach’s answer to Red Bull’s RB17 and the Aston Martin Valkyrie? It sure seems that way.
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Report by Brandan Gillogly for hagerty.com
