First and foremost, just what's it all about Ferrari's Porsche 917 arch-nemesis and why this and the Porsche 917 became the centerpiece of another Le Mans legend told in the history books? Following Fiat's takeover, Enzo Ferrari began building this car that can take part in the 1970 World Sports Car Championship in Group 5. For homologation purposes, they made 25 of these.
It uses the similar tubular space frame as the P4 and the 612 while being powered by a 5.0L all-alloy V12 engine producing 550hp of power and capable of hitting the 340kph top speed. Its first appearance is at Daytona, where it won third place, and its biggest achievement is winning Sebring and Kyalami at the Manufacturers' World Championship in 1970 and 1971. Sadly, the Porsche 917s were proven to be too difficult to beat for the Scuderia's trump card.
I'm slightly a fan of vintage racers but getting behind the wheel of the 512 S reminds me back of one of my experiments where the mighty 917 LH trumped the 512 S in ye olde Le Mans but since this is far, far, away from now, it's best to take a spin round Britain's finest and by driving one, it's hard to say how much of a vintage racer the 512 S is because while it was built to be the antithesis to the Porsche 917 LH that I drove a while back, there are some similarities between the two and this is why I called my old friend to have a quick draw with its arch nemesis.
The rivalry between these machines as reenacted by Steve McQueen in the Le Mans film, it feels so far away now to me, but still, that doesn't stop me to conduct another one of my Forza Horizon experiments between the two machines.
Fighting on castle grounds, my little experiment is all about which one is the fastest. Everybody knows that the 917 is famed to kick Ferrari's butt at Le Mans but now that I'm experimenting these machines near castle grounds, it's time to put that little hypothesis to the test.
After a little experiment near Bamburgh Castle, I am shocked to say that both of these machines lapped in 0:58.926! Incredible! Even though they have different specs and performance, they have similar results in the end. I'm definitely scratching my heads now.
The 917 and 512 have made a massive mark the history of motorsports because of the famed rivalry that got Steve McQueen's attention to recreating it on the big screen. Witnessing such rivalry is like I had a choice between Ford V Ferrari or Le Mans but whichever rivalry we went into, it's great that we are fans of vintage racers like these.
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