CMR - PORSCHE - 917/20 TEAM MARTINI RACING PINK PIG N 23 24h LE MANS 1971 R.JOEST - W.KAUHSEN

For the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1971, Porsche had developed some body work styles to fit the 917: along with the uprated 917K and 917LH shapes, the German make had presented, in collaboration with the SERA aerodynamic studio a very special short tailed body work for a new model known as the 917/20. This car was entered in the preliminary tests session with a plain white bodywork but following an idea by Porsche’s stylist Anatole Lapin it was eventually painted in pink with red markings and German words labelling each of the body parts according to the butcher-style cuts. It was an instant classic, even if Martini refused to put their logos on that pink bodywork… The car, driven by Reinhold Joest and Willi Kauhsen didn’t last much during the race, and would not reappear again. But the Pink-Pig mania had just began, a car and a livery that made racing history.