THE PSYCHEDELIC RACER

The Psychedelic Racer

Having a closer look at the first art car ever to race on the Le Mans grid.

When you peel back the skin and boil them down to their bare components, racing cars are just machines. Raw experiments in engineering – some of them more successful than others – but, above all, they are machines designed to do a very specific job: travel as fast as the laws of physics allow.

Born for glory, the Porsche 917 was created with the purpose of winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright. Under the direction of Dr Ferdinand Piëch, the 917 had a chassis developed by Helmuth Bott and Porsche’s first 12-cylinder engine, created by Hans Mezger.

More spaceship than racing car, it had an aluminium space frame chassis, components made from titanium, magnesium and exotic alloys and – in the case of the few longtail cars – pioneering aerodynamic bodywork, created with the help of La Société d’Études et de Réalisations Automobiles, or SERA for short. The 917 went on to dominate the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970 and again in 1971, forever securing its place among the greatest racing cars in history.

Of the handful of examples of 917s that exist, chassis 917-043 is particularly significant. In this car, British racer Jackie Oliver set a record top speed of 386 km/h on the pre-chicane Mulsanne Straight and the fastest ever lap around the original Le Mans circuit, with a time of 3:13.6. More affectionately known as the ‘Hippie’ car, 917-043 really caught the world’s attention when it made its 1970 debut at Le Mans bearing a bold ‘psychedelic’ livery — making it the very first "art car" in racing history.

The car was the third of the special long-tail SERA 917s built to be as aerodynamic as possible at high speeds. Sponsored by Martini, the job of designing and applying the livery fell to Porsche designer Anatole Lapine and his assistant, who painted bright violet whorls and swoops on the 917’s white body. The result was a racing car unlike anything that had graced the Le Mans grid.

Following some early morning adjustments to its distinctive paint job, the Hippie car was poised for its Le Mans debut on June 14th, 1970. Driven by Gérard Larrousse and Willi Kauhsen, 917-043 qualified 12th out of 57 cars. The car battled against the short tail 917K driven by Herrmann and Attwood and the Ferrari 512s. While the 917k would eventually win, the Hippie car came in an admirable second in the rain-soaked race.

In this car, British racer Jackie Oliver set a record top speed of 386 km/h on the pre-chicane Mulsanne Straight and the fastest ever lap around the original Le Mans circuit, with a time of 3:13.6.

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“It was a very successfully developed car, it wasn’t hard to manage. It was extraordinary and extremely fast in the straights. You could get up to 390 km/h. Its grip was nearly perfect.”

“It was a very successfully developed car. It wasn’t hard to manage,” said Larrousse. “It was extraordinary and extremely fast in the straights. You could get up to 390 km/h. Its grip was nearly perfect.”

In pursuit of perfection, development continued ahead of the car’s 1971 return to Le Mans. The car was comprehensively modified into the ultimate long-tail 917, complete with a new rear wing and wheel spats to make it even more aerodynamic.

Driven by Jackie Oliver and Pedro Rodriguez, the car qualified in pole position. Despite this, 917-043 failed to finish owing to failure of its oil system. After the 1971 race, regulation changes were ushered in for 1972, forcing all 917s into retirement from European racing.

Later, 917-043 was returned to its 1970 form and sold to famed Porsche collector Vasek Polak, who then sold the car to Brazillian collector Massimo Padrazzi, where it remained in his collection for 47 years. Lying low for the best part of half a century, 917-043 was presumed missing, giving rise to other Porsche 917s masquerading as the original second place 1970 Le Mans finisher.

Sold again in 2024, the car finally returned to Europe in the hands of a private owner to retrace relive its former glory at Classic Le Mans, driven in a parade lap by former racer and next of kin, Gerrard Larrousse.

Continuing its global return as racing car royalty, the original art car and Le Mans legend has already been seen skidding around the frozen lake in St Moritz at The I.C.E and, more recently, at Lake Como’s Fuoriconcorso. Quite a contrast from its life at Le Mans more than five decades ago, but the legend of the Hippie Car remains in rude health.