908/02 Spyder

STORY

The Porsche 908 was the company's first purpose-built car for the 3.0-litre prototype class introduced by the CSI for 1968, and its first sports-racer designed to compete for outright victory rather than class honours. Where the earlier 907 had leaned on Porsche's compact flat-six, the 908 was powered by a new air-cooled 3.0-litre flat-eight (Type 908), initially producing around 350 hp and developed to roughly 360 hp, mated to Porsche's proven spaceframe chassis and lightweight glass-fibre body. Introduced as the 908 coupé in both long-tail (LH) low-drag and short-tail configurations, it debuted in 1968 and took wins that season at the BOAC 500 (Brands Hatch), the Nürburgring 1000 km and Watkins Glen, helping Porsche toward the top of the manufacturers' standings. For 1969 the design was reworked into the open 908/02 Spyder, a lighter and more agile roadster that carried Porsche to the International Championship for Makes, with victories including the Targa Florio, the Nürburgring 1000 km and Watkins Glen. That June, a low-drag 908 LH driven by Hans Herrmann and Gérard Larrousse fought a Ford GT40 to the wire at Le Mans, losing the lead under braking in the closing laps to finish second in one of the closest finishes in the race's history. Once the 917 arrived to chase Le Mans outright, the 908 lineage was refined a final time into the ultralight 908/03 for the twistier rounds of the championship. Across 1968-1971 the 908 established Porsche as a championship-winning marque at the highest level of endurance racing and became one of the most successful and versatile prototypes of its era.