The Porsche 917 is among the most famous and recognizable racecars of all time. In 1970, the 917 gave Porsche its first overall victory at the legendary Le Mans 24 hour race. The Gulf liveried 917K also starred in Steve McQueen’s 1971 film titled Le Mans.

The car pictured here is a beautifully restored 917/10, a model that was famous for winning the 1972 Can Am championship in North America – breaking a 5-year stranglehold held by McLaren. Can Am was perhaps the only major international racing series with no limitations on engine size, as well as other vital technical specs – resulting in some of the fastest and most extreme racing cars the world had ever seen. Not least of which is the 917/10’s successor, the 917/30 – widely regarded as the most powerful racecar ever developed. In qualifying trim, in 1973, it was capable of developing up to a staggering 1,580 horsepower in the hands of Penske driver, Mark Donahue – who helped develop the car. These stratospheric levels of power allowed the 917/30 to accelerate to 100km/h in an astounding 1.9 seconds, and 160km/h in 3.9 seconds.

This particular car raced in the European version of Can Am – winning the 1975 German Interseries Championship. This is one of only twelve 917/10’s built by Porsche. It has a 5.4 litre flat-12 engine that produces 1,150bhp.

1979 Porsche 935

The Porsche 935, introduced in 1976, was based on the original 911 turbo – referred to as the 930. The 935 was built to race in Group 5, which was the FIA classification for sportscars – hence the name 935.

The 935 was dominant in sportscar racing and claimed outright wins at all the major races of the time, such as Le Mans, the 24 hours of Daytona, 12 hours of Sebring and the Nurburgring 1000 kilometer race.

This particular car was bought new from the factory by Bruce Canepa in 1979. It has a twin turbo 3.2 liter flat-six that produces 740 horsepower. It was raced in the IMSA (International Motorsports Association, an American sanctioning body) GT series.

In his second race in this 935, Bruce qualified second – behind series winner Peter Gregg in another 935 – and finished third in the race. This particular car is still in excellent condition, and is considered the most factory correct 935 in existence today. Bruce still competes with this car in historic races.

A production version of this aerodynamic front end was offered to customers of the 930 (911) as a special edition – referred to as the ‘slant nose.’

1985 Porsche 962

The Porsche 956/962 is perhaps the most dominant sports racing prototype in the history of motor racing. Between the 956, introduced in 1982, and the 962, introduced in late 1984, they won six successive Le Mans 24 Hour races. The 956 could touch 350km/h (217mph) down the Mulsanne straight at Le Mans.

This particular car is the second 962 built by Porsche (chassis # 962 002), and was the factory car driven by Jackie Icxx and Jochen Mass to win the 1985 FIA World championship.

1970 AMC Javelin

This is a 1970 AMC (Amercian Motors Corporation) Javelin that was raced in the Trans Am series (Trans American Sedan Championship), which was one of the most popular racing series in the US at the time. The reason Trans Am was so popular is because it pit all the great muscle cars of that era, like the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang, against each other.

Roger Penske, with Mark Donahue behind the wheel, came to dominate Trans Am racing at the time. In 1968 and 1969, Mark Donahue took the Trans Am title in a Chevrolet Camaro. In 1970, they switched to the thus far unsuccessful AMC Javelin. Donahue developed the Javelin, and won three races in 1970 – leaving him second in the championship behind rival Parnelli Jones in a Mustang. In 1971, Donahue went on to win the championship in a Javelin.

This particular car is the first Javelin developed by Penske. This one-and-a-half tonne behemoth has a 5.0 liter V8 that produces 450bhp. I had the pleasure of seeing Bruce wrestle this monster of a racing car around the beautiful Infineon Raceway in Northern California at a historics event – it was a sight to behold.