The first Porsche to win a 24 hour endurance race - the 1968 907 Longtail - will sell through Gooding & Company at this year's Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance.
 The 907 Longtail was the first Porsche to win a 24 hour endurance race. Now the marque regularly holds the top position - All images copyright and courtesy of Gooding & Company. Photos by Mathieu Heurtault. |
Coming to auction on March 7, the historically significant Longtail is estimated at $3m-5m.
In 1967, Porsche entered two of its newly-developed 907 "Langheck," or Longtails, into the Le Mans 24-Hours race, the new chassis powered by Porsche's tried and tested 2.0 litre, six-cylinder engine. One of these failed to finish, but its sister car finished fifth overall, winning the Index of Performance (an achievement equal to winning outright in terms of prize money) and the Index of Thermal Efficency.
The start of Porsche's unrivalled racing career was underway. In 1968, the hungry team returned to Le Mans with the 907 kitted out with an eight cylinder engine and further tweaks to the design.
The 2.2 litre, eight cylinder engine propelled three of the five 907s entered in the race to victory, triumphing over strong competition from the Ford GT40s driven by Jacky Ickx and Brian Redman.
 Five 907 Longtails entered the race, three would end it in an iconic 1-2-3 finish - All images copyright and courtesy of Gooding & Company. Photos by Mathieu Heurtault. |
The iconic win saw a choreographed 1-2-3 finish that has gone on to become one of the most recognisable images in racing. In first place was the car at auction, chassis 907-005.
907-005 went on to lead a successful racing career, and has been magnificently preserved by a string of top-level collectors. At the 2011 Amelia Island Concours, it won the award for the most historically significant race car, while in 2012 it was awarded the Porsche Trophy for the most historically significant Porsche.
In February, a Porsche 956 from the 1982 1-2-3 finish at Le Mans sold for $2.7m. Porsche's record for endurance race wins is unbeaten by any other marque, with more outright victories at Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring than any other.
While its owner won't want to part with the 907 Longtail for much less than the asking price, many of the motors featured at Gooding & Company are being offered without reserve, making a great opportunity for those looking to snap up a bargain.
Among those with no reserve is a fully matching numbers 1973 Porsche 911 2.4S, an iconic car from a marque that is riding high on the collector car market. Enhancing the lot is the photo-documented restoration from Porsche experts, which warrants a $200,000-240,000 estimate.
Paul Fraser Collectibles' free newsletter is the fastest way to keep up with the collector car market.
