Porsche 908

The 908 won the 1000 km Nürburgring four consecutive years from 1968 to 1971 and again in 1980, and combined with the Porsche 917 underpinned Porsche's domination of the International Championship for Makes from 1969 to 1971.

The 908 was not ready for the first three rounds of the 1968 World Sportscar Championship, which Porsche contested with the 2.2-litre Porsche 907. The 908 made its first appearance at the Le Mans test weekend in April 1968, driven by Rolf Stommelen; it was found to need major aerodynamic refinement, though Stommelen eventually posted a time of 3:44.1.

Its competitive debut came at the 1968 1000 km Monza, run on the 10 km interleaved oval with high bankings. The two 908s had teething problems and finished 11th and 19th. At the 1968 Targa Florio, Porsche chose not to enter the 908 and the win went to Vic Elford in a 907. The 908 scored its maiden victory at the 1968 1000 km Nürburgring, backed by a 907, ahead of the Wyer-GT40. A week later at the 1968 1000 km Spa, Jacky Ickx dominated the rain-soaked race.

At the 1968 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, one 908 was over-revved early, two others suffered various issues including a driver falling ill in the closed coupé and a DNF from wheel bearing trouble. Two Wyer-Fords and a Howmet TX finished ahead of the lone surviving 908, which was also beaten by two private Porsche 906s.

With both Porsche and Ford having won four races each going into the season finale, the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans — postponed from June to September due to political unrest — was decisive. The Porsche 908 LH (long tail) models were fastest in qualifying and the early stages, but alternator troubles caused delays and disqualifications after the new Porsche team leaders misinterpreted the rules (repair rather than replacement of the faulty part was required). A V8-powered Ford won the race and the 1968 International Championship for Makes. A private Swiss 907 LT finished second, ahead of the sole surviving factory 908.

In July 1968, amid the 908's development campaign, Porsche took the decision to enlarge the 3.0-litre flat-eight to a 4.5-litre flat-twelve — the Type 912 engine — and build the required 25 units of a new car, the Porsche 917, to qualify for Group 4 homologation.

For 1969, the Group 6 prototype rules were changed to favour open-top cars. Porsche lowered the weight of the 908 by removing the roof and long tails to produce the 908/02 spyder, saving 100 kg (220 lb). Aluminium tube frames were used, with air pressure gauges to check them.

The season began badly. All three 908/02s failed at the 1969 24 Hours of Daytona, while the Penske-entered Lola T70 won. At the 1969 12 Hours of Sebring, a Ford GT40 defeated a trio of factory-entered 908/2s.

The picture changed once the more powerful Porsche 917 was introduced at Geneva, though homologation was not approved until May and the 917 immediately suffered aerodynamic teething problems (wings had been banned by the FIA following failures in Formula One, affecting the 917). The 908/02 stepped up: it scored a 1-2-3 finish at the BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch ahead of a Ferrari 312P, then won the 1000 km Monza, the Targa Florio, the 1000 km Spa, and achieved an overwhelming 1-2-3-4-5 at the 1000 km Nürburgring, securing the 1969 International Championship for Makes for Porsche before the season's end.

The 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans was again won by the same Wyer-Ford GT40 chassis, as the 917s suffered gearbox troubles after leading for many hours. Hans Herrmann drove a 908 low-drag coupé to a very close second behind Jacky Ickx. Herrmann was fast on the straights, but near the race's end the brake pads wore down — indicated by a warning light introduced with the 908 — and the team gambled on not changing them. This allowed Ickx to pass under braking.

The 908/02 in which Steve McQueen finished second at the 1970 12 Hours of Sebring was also used as a camera car for the Le Mans film shot during the race itself. McQueen had originally intended to drive a Porsche 917 in the race, but this was vetoed by the studio funding the film.

Despite the 917's improvement toward the end of 1969, the 908 remained indispensable for the twisty and slow tracks — Nürburgring and Targa Florio — where the 917K was ill-suited even after modification. Based on the lightweight Porsche 909 hillclimb car, the 908/03 was an open-cockpit spyder shorter than the 908/02 and weighing only 500 kg (1,100 lb), compared to approximately 840 kg (1,850 lb) for the 917K. The 908/03 was so short that the driver's legs projected ahead of the front wheels.

In May 1970, chassis #008 succeeded at both the 1970 Nürburgring 1000 km and the Targa Florio. At the Targa, chassis #008 was given to JWA, painted in Gulf blue as car #12 with two red arrows, and driven by Jo Siffert and Brian Redman to victory. Other 908/03s finished 2nd, 4th and 5th, with one DNF. Four weeks later at the Ring, the same #008 was entered by Porsche Salzburg as plain white #22; Vic Elford and Kurt Ahrens led a 1-2 finish after two JWA cars had crashed out, with four 908/02s taking 4th through 7th.

For 1971 vertical fins were added to the rear of the 908/03, which also received larger roll bars. At the 1971 Targa Florio, only three 908/03s were brought to Sicily, and all eventually crashed. The two JWA cars were out on the first lap; Brian Redman was badly injured in a fiery crash. Vic Elford in the Martini-entered #008 set the fastest lap but was classified 39th after a late crash. The race was won by Nino Vaccarella for Alfa Romeo.

Within two weeks the two crashed 908/03s had to be repaired for the Nürburgring. The new Ferrari 312PB of Jacky Ickx and Clay Regazzoni qualified on pole by nine seconds and led for six laps before engine trouble intervened. The leading Alfa Romeo of Stommelen/Galli led until lap 14, when its engine also failed. The leading Ferrari fell out on lap 21 of 44. Elford in the Martini chassis #008, having less power than the V12 rivals, hunted them down to take the win; the result was a 1-2-3 finish for the works 908/03.

With the combination of the powerful 917 and the lightweight 908 in various variants, supported by two factory-backed teams plus privateer and GT entries, Porsche dominated the International Championship for Makes each year from 1969 to 1971.

New rules for 1972 discontinued the 5,000 cc Group 5 sports car category, making the 917 obsolete. In the 3,000 cc class, renamed Group 5 sports cars, a new minimum weight requirement of 650 kg (1,430 lb) — far above what Porsche could achieve, well under 600 kg (1,300 lb) — eliminated the 908/03's primary advantage. Competitors' F1-derived V12 engines in the Ferrari 312PB, Alfa Romeo T33TT and Matra delivered 420 hp (310 kW) or more even in endurance trim, against the 908's 370 PS (272 kW).

Porsche ended its 20-year factory sports car racing programme and sold the 908/03 cars to customers. A three-year-old Porsche 908LH coupé entered by Reinhold Joest finished third at the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans. From 1975, some 908s were fitted with turbocharged engines similar to those in the Porsche 934, downsized to 2.1 litres; with a turbo equivalency factor of 1.4 these outpowered normally aspirated 3-litre engines. In 1976 Porsche developed the 936 for the new Group 6 two-seater category, but did not offer it for sale. Several customer 908s were upgraded with 936-style bodywork. The Porsche 908/80 turbo driven by Joest and Ickx finished second at the 1980 24 Hours of Le Mans; it was later revealed to have an actual Porsche 936 chassis.

The 908 won the 1000 km Nürburgring in three different decades: four consecutive wins from 1968 to 1971, and again in 1980 using turbocharging for its final victory. Some 908s continue to be raced in competitions such as the Classic Endurance Racing series.

| Version | Engine | Power | Top speed | Body | |---------|--------|-------|-----------|------| | 908 LH coupé (1968) | 2,990 cc flat-8 | 350 PS (257 kW) | 320 km/h (200 mph) | Closed cockpit, long tail | | 908/02 spyder (1969) | 2,990 cc flat-8 | 350 PS (257 kW) | 290 km/h (180 mph) | Open cockpit, short tail | | 908/03 spyder (1970–71) | 2,990 cc flat-8 | 370 PS (272 kW) | 290 km/h (180 mph) | Open cockpit, shorter wheelbase, fins from 1971 | | 908/03 turbo (1975–81) | 2,140 cc flat-6 turbo | Over 500 hp | — | Customer-modified |

This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.