THE 917K THAT NEVER WON LE MANS.
by STINT GEAR
The Porsche 917K in pale blue with a marigold band ran for John Wyer's team in 1970 and 1971. In those 2 seasons it won 12 rounds of the world championship for sports cars, more than any other team. It never won Le Mans. Its best result there was 2nd in 1971, 2 laps behind another 917K.
The race organisers' own history of the 917 calls these colours "still widely celebrated. Not least because of a very special film." The film is part of the answer. Here is the record, the film and the colours.
Did the blue and orange 917K win Le Mans?
No. The team took the pale blue cars to Le Mans twice, and neither year ended in a win.
In 1970 it entered 3 cars. All 3 retired: 1 crashed in the 5th hour and 2 lost their engines. The race went to a 917K entered by Porsche's Salzburg team.
In 1971 it entered 3 again, and 2 retired. The 3rd, car 19, driven by Richard Attwood and Herbert Müller, finished 2nd on 395 laps. The winner, car 22, was also a 917K and covered 397.
| Year | Pale blue cars entered | Best result | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 3 | All retired | 917K, Porsche Salzburg, 343 laps |
| 1971 | 3 | 2nd, car 19, 395 laps | 917K, car 22, 397 laps |
What did it win?
More than any other team, in both seasons. In 1970 it won 7 of the 10 rounds: Daytona, Brands Hatch, Monza, the Targa Florio, Spa, Watkins Glen and the Österreichring. In 1971 it won 5 of 11, starting in Buenos Aires.
Porsche won 17 championship rounds across those 2 seasons. 12 of them came from this team, in these colours.
What car did Steve McQueen drive in Le Mans?
A 917K in these colours, number 20. The film Le Mans was released on 23 June 1971, with McQueen as the driver Michael Delaney.
At the real race the year before, number 20 was Jo Siffert and Brian Redman's car. It retired with engine failure after 12 hours.
So the pale blue 917K's best-known run at Le Mans is a film, not a result.
What colours are on the 917K livery?
Pale blue covers the car. A marigold band runs through it.
| Pale blue | Marigold | |
|---|---|---|
| Hex | #89CCE2 | #F26B1F |
| RGB | 137, 204, 226 | 242, 107, 31 |
| HSL | 195 deg, 61%, 71% | 22 deg, 89%, 54% |
| Relative luminance | 0.540 | 0.295 |
Hue separation 173 degrees. Contrast ratio 1.71:1.
The 2 sit almost opposite each other on the colour wheel, which is why the band stands out from a distance. But they are close in brightness, closer than the orange and green on the 787B, so the scheme works on hue rather than on light against dark. The pale blue is the field. The marigold is only ever a band.
The values above are what our tee prints in, not a paint code from the period.
For a pair that should not work at all, see the 2 colours of the 787B.
Why are these the colours people remember?
3 reasons, and only 1 of them is the film.
It was everywhere. 12 championship wins in 2 seasons put the same colours at the front of the field on 3 continents.
It is simple. A single colour covers the car and a single band runs through it. A scheme like that survives being a decal, a photograph, a model or a print, the same way the flat, hard-edged schemes in how racing liveries are designed do.
And it does not need the logos. Take them off and the car still reads as this car: pale blue, a marigold band, nothing else. That is the test behind every piece we make, and the idea behind what a racing livery is.
The 917 raced before the era in why Group C cars look like that. It ran in Group 5, under a different rulebook.
From the car to the tee
The MARIGOLD TEE keeps the order. A marigold stripe runs down the centre of the front, edged in pale blue with a navy line either side. The pale blue that covered the car is cut back to those edges, so the tee sits on white. A small pale blue S marks the back of the neck.
It is a heat transfer print on 270gsm combed cotton.
