FULLY CHARGED

When it comes to performance road cars, Porsche and turbochargers have been a perfect pairing for forty-five years. We’ve seen a huge number of boosted belters exit the company’s Stuttgart stable during this time, yet it’s worth remembering that like much of the technology our favourite brand has harnessed and developed, its turbocharging exploits started at the race circuit.

The story starts with the 917, a sports prototype based on the 908 and developed by Porsche to achieve top honours at Le Mans. Introduced in March 1969, the twelve-cylinder track terroriser would go on to be revered as one of the most impressive race cars of all time. Countless victories, including Porsche’s first overall win at Sarthe (outlined in last month’s issue of ) were achieved by short and long-tailed variants of the distinctively styled racer, though the model’s unrivalled attack of the asphalt encouraged bodies at the independent competition arm of the FIA to twitch in their seats. Consequently, regulations were introduced for the International Championship of Makes favouring cars loaded with three litres of displacement (the smallest 917