By Immortal 917

By Immortal 917 ON 27.04.1975 count Rossi driving his 917 from Stuttgart to Paris

Porsche 917 K Chassis #030

Conte Gregorio Rossi di Montelera and the exact moment of delivery for his sentimental 917 K Stradale, On 27th April 1975

Here I want to add some very rare info on 917-030 Strassen , exactly the day after

Zeltweg 1971' in which a sad crash preventing 917-030 from a possible Win, Porsche

decided to resume ABS testing, because transplanting the anti-lock system from one

car to another would have taken too long and the damage to the rear section of the frame was minor so they decided to repair damaged car by

replacing some of the aluminum tubes at the rear of the chassis, no spare tubes were

on hand but someone remembered the rig for the pressure refueling system Porsche

carried with them from race to race was made of those same Aluminum tubes! work

promptly started with the hacksaw to cut the tubes to length followed by use of an

argon welding torch to rebuild the rear part of the chassis!

Few modification were made to the car to make it suitable for the road use! Count

Rossi being determined to keep it as original as possible , the only alternation to the

body was to cutting off the two small tail fins, inside the cockpit the alternations were

limited to covering the dash structure with dull black cloth (later changed to Cognac brown)

and fitting a passenger seat offering the same degree of comfort as the driver's

bucket, a big 911 silencer was fitted to the car in order to keep it quiet (of course a purist like Count Rossi immediately removed the odd muffler!)

finally the car resprayed a metallic Blue/grey Paint.

Gregorio Rossi Di Montelera born 26.04.1936 in Torino in a sentimental family ,

From his two Marriages , his only child born in 1969 from his first marriage (1967Paris) as You know well Count Rossi was the head of Martini-Rossi in its Golden Days , he was a very kind person and a real Gentleman!

Unfortunately Count Gregorio Rossi died in Lucca (Italy), August 14, 2003

Since he was a real Porsche Guy and 917-030 was a sentimental car for him as well as his family so that this very original 917 K ( Dale Miller words on 917-030 : Ultra original!) is now own by his only child from his first marriage Manfredo Rossi who is a very good vintage racer ( with a big collection of historic cars )

As far as I know Manfredo Rossi turned down an offer equal to the value of the last Ferrari 250 GTO , of course the one and only 917 K Strassen converted by Porsche can be consider as the most sentimental car ever registered for the road, and of course that's Priceless !!

917-030 full history:Porsche 917, white;

28/01/1971 Porsche constructed as a comparative vehicle prior races Zeltweg 1970th Later Teldix antilock braking system retrofitted.

The world's first racing car with ABS.

Porsche 917, white / red / blue (Martini paint); # 28

26/06/1971 Porsche

given vehicle at Martini Racing and provided between training and racing with martini decor.

27/06/1971 Porsche

1000 km Austria Ring (MWM)

Driver: Helmut Marko / Gérard Larrousse

Training: Course 3

1.41,610 min.

Race: failure

Porsche 917, white / red / blue (Martini paint); # 28

30/07/1971 Porsche

Tests Hockenheimring

Gauge for brake testing installed.

Porsche 917, white / red / blue (Martini paint); # 28

1971 Porsche vehicle is provided by the Nuremberg public prosecutor for a local appointment to clarify the fatal accident of Pedro Rodriguez, in the running for Inter Series on 07/11/1971 at the Norisring, available.

Porsche 917, white;

1972 - 1974 Porsche vehicle used for ABS tests, later for sale for DM 75,000 (not ready for the race), or offered DM 150,000 (race ready) Vehicle was finally converted to road going for Count Rossi (Martini & Rossi).

Porsche 917, silver;

11/05/1974 vehicle was checked for sale at Rossi. Fins on the rear cover removed. Interior lined with dull black cloth (later Cognac Brown) Silencer. Delivery on 27th of April 1975

approved in Alabama. Features: 61-27737, 61-3086 later.

Porsche 917, Dark Blue/Gold Accents

Count Rossi vehicle later painted Dark Blue/Gold Accents (first one seen with its new color in 1984 Paris). Muffler away!

Porsche 917, silver;

From 2009 Goodwood FOS Pictures emerged which again show the car in '74 state (but with silver painted mirrors and black rims, Cognac Brown Leather, Muffler away!)

My Dear Friend Luc Ghys who can able to taking a lot of Great photos of 917-030 in Goodwood FOS in 2009 , there is also some great shots from My Dear Friend Michael Pattison Aka "917 Historian" plus some great pictures of other friends!