Porsche 917: The Winning Formula

This book is a great written history of the 917 with lots of interesting photographs to help tell the tale of the car's development and racing history, with the one critique that the writing style is more oriented to an experienced motorsport fan who knows something of the time period and the various racing series of the time. Sometimes the story gets off on a tangent about things which are hard to understand except perhaps for a diehard Porsche motorsports buff. Still, it's welcome relief from other books which say almost nothing about that beyond the basics of the car's outlined history and some notable races/drivers of the car. Something of a perfect coffee table book which a guest can leaf through for the pictures or sit down to read parts of for a bit more.

This is probably the best single book on the 917, perhaps the greatest race car ever. It is out of print, but I decided to take a chance on a used one that still had a dust jacket. It was sold by "technobookshop", and they said it was perfect except for a "small chip on the dust jacket", that had "been repaired". When I got the book I discovered the "small chip" was actually a fairly good sized tear, but it had been repaired with a piece of tape on the back. But in addition to that, there was a large tear and hole in the binding back board and spine behind the tear in the dust cover. Apparently the book was struck with some rather sharp object. I hate to receive goods in a damaged condition, and agonized for a couple of days about returning it. But the interior pages are in perfect shape, and I started looking the book over, and decided to keep it, as the next offer of it in the used category was quite a bit more money. It is an excellent book on this car, and I have all of the best of them, so it's an educated opinion. But I wish people would be a bit more honest when they are selling something through Amazon.

Morgan's focus is on the design culture at Porsche and the people behind the cars and this is one of the best and most insightful car books I've read in that regard. He has done his research and seems to know all the personalities. In particular, he provides a very balanced judgement on the differing points of view surrounding several incidents in the 917's history where - let's just say - there have been varying accounts on what happened and who deserves credit. He also provides a good background on Porsche's early sports car racing efforts that led to the 917. My only disappointment is that, though the design and development of the 917 (including the Can Am cars) is described in general terms, there is not a lot of hard technical data. More detailed chassis and engine drawings and details would have taken this excellent general history that final kilometre.

Must have book for anyone interested in WEC racing and the most important car ever!

I was twelve in 1971 and lived in Liege. My dad got us tickets to the 1000km of Spa. Sitting along the grid across from pit row. To this day I can close my eyes and see two powder blue Gulf 917's entering the final straight from Virage de la Source. As I remember it Oliver let up just before the finish and Derek almost got pasted him. (I think he may have let up a little too) the hairs on the back of neck still stand up...WOW.The magic of the 971's touched my life. This is a wonderful book. Pick it up and let the magic rub off on you.Thank you Peter Morgan, and you too Dad.

Book came a day early which was great. This was a Birthday present for my husband, and I was very disappointed when I opened it. Whoever packaged the book up for shipping completely ruined the book cover. See attached pics for what it looked like when I opened the package. The book itself is perfect but the cover is crushed and ripped. Disappointed to say the least.

I build scale model cars and this book is a great reference tool. It covers all of Porsche's racing cars of the '60s leading toward the development of the 917 and recounts all the roadblocks and pitfalls along the way. People who are not saavy about the real world of large-stakes motorsport can be surprised to learn about how much rule-bending goes on. "Unfair advantages" are aggressiviely sought through research and experimentation. An interesting aspect of the 917 is much refinement and modification was needed to turn this complicated and dangerous car into a successful racer.

Fantastic book with lots of facts and stories about the factory vs Gulf team battles and drivers stories. A must haev if you are interested in the hey days of racing.

No.24-917(GULF PORSCHE)が表紙の初回プレス版が届きました。内容は917だけでなく、ご先祖と言える904からはじまり、Le Mans,Can-Amそして'81にKremerがLe Mansで復刻した917/81まで延々と続きます。写真（ほとんどカラー）の量も多いですが、活字量もそうとうです。（ただし英文ですが）レーシングPORSCHE好きなら、手に入れるべきです。ただ、和文でほしいです。

Complet et précis

Il a été écrit des tas de livres sur le sujet. Il s'agit ici de l'un des meilleurs, tant par le texte que par les photos. A recommander pour les amateurs de cette star de son époque et à tous ceux qui veulent simplement découvrir son histoire.

Fantastic book. The 917 is my favourite racecar and this book didn't disappoint.