The Winner of the 1968 24 Hours of Daytona

1968 Porsche 907 Longtail

Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | March 7, 2014

Photo - Gooding & Company

Photo – Gooding & Company

The Porsche 907 was, you guessed it, the successor to the 906 and the predecessor to the 908. (Well okay, the 910 was technically slotted between the 906 and 907, but that doesn’t make any numerical sense, now does it?).

Anyway, in 1967 Porsche introduced the 907 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans gunning for a head start on the rule changes coming for 1968 that mandated smaller engines. The car you see here uses a screaming 278 horsepower 2.2-liter flat-eight. The 907 would bring Porsche it’s first 24 hour endurance victory – setting off a streak unlike any other in motorsports history (although corporate cousin Audi is trying its damnedest to top it).

The competition history for this car includes the following:

  • 1968 24 Hours of Daytona – 1st (with Vic Elford, Jochen Neerpasch, Rolf Stommelen, Jo Siffert, and Hans Herrmann)
  • 1968 1000km Monza – 2nd (with Neerpasch and Stommelen)
  • 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans – 29th, DNF (with Alex Soler-Roig and Rudi Lins)
  • 1969 24 Hours of Daytona – DNF (with Soler-Roig and Lins)
  • 1969 12 Hours of Sebring – 4th (with Soler-Roig and Lins)
  • 1970 1000km Monza – 15th, 1st in class (with Andre Wicky and Mario Cabral)
  • 1970 1000km Nurburgring – 9th, 1st in class (with Wicky and Cabral)
  • 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans – 23rd, DNF (with Wicky and Jean-Pierre Hanrioud)
  • 1971 1000km Monza – DNF (with Wicky and Peter Mattli)
  • 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans – 7th, 1st in class (with Mattli and Walter Brun)
  • 1972 1000km Monza – 4th, 1st in class (with Mattli and Herve Bayard)
  • 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans – 18th, 2nd in class (with Mattli, Brun, and Bayard)

What is most awesome about this car is that a later American owner tried to enter it in the 1998 24 Hours of Daytona because its performance from 1968 was on par with current cars. How cool would that have been?

This car was meticulously restored to 1968 race-ready condition and one of eight 907 Longtails built and one of only two that remain. It’s a very important racing Porsche that can be yours for between $3,500,000-$5,000,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

S/N: 907-005

Update: Sold $3,630,000.

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