1973 Porsche 917/30 #6
Pilot: M. Donohue
Team: Penske Racing
Race: 7th at Mosport - Can-Am 1973
Spark - US166 (resin)
Published 01/31/25
The 917/30 only came to be, obviously, because of the 917. Well, to be more precise, it only came to be because of the demise of the 917. When FIA banned it at the end of 1971, Porsche was “all dressed up with nowhere to go”. The 917 was a marvel of engineering, blistering fast and technically FAR superior to anything else. However, when FIA deleted the Sports Class at the end of 1971, the car could not legally race anymore. So Porsche had to look elsewhere to use the car. And “elsewhere” was across the pond, in the Canadian-American Challenge. For 1972 they came up with the 917/10, basically a more powerful 917 in spyder form. The 917/10 won the season, however in a partnership with Roger Penske, they evolved it into the 917/30. The one and only Turbopanzer, the most powerful race car ever.
On June 10th, 20 cars lined up for the “Labatt’s Blue Trophy in the Can-Am Challenge Race”. That would be the first race of the 1973 Can-Am season, at Mosport, in Ontario, Canada. Porsche had a strong presence at Mosport, with six 917/10s in the hands of privateers. And of course, they would also debut the 917/30 beast. With 1500 hp (1103 kW) on tap, not surprisingly, Mark Donohue started on pole position. Unfortunately though, right in the beginning of the race he hit a back marker, causing extensive damage to the car. With the front-right corner of the 917/30 #6 wrecked, it took a long time to repair. In fact, Donohue wanted to abandon, however Roger Penske convinced him to continue. He rejoined the race, yet with the lost time only managed to finish in 7th place. After that, he won 6 of the remaining seven races!
This model is a special release by Spark (= limited run). I already have Mark Donohue’s 917/30 #6 from Minichamps, which is the most famous car. With that car, chassis #917/30-003, he won five races in 1973, so you can say it’s THE 917/30 to have. And overall, in scale it’s a very decent effort by Minichamps. However, this model has a few things going for it. First, of course, being from Spark, the detail level is a notch or two above. Second, chassis #917/30-002, was the first 917/30 to race. And third, and most important of all, look at the air intakes for the brake cooling ducts. Mosport was the only race where Penske used that configuration. I think that they realized they could integrate them with the central intake for the turbos. Therefore, after Mosport the 917/30 only had one central air intake at the front.
Being a Mark Donohue fan, and of course, a HUGE 917 fanboy, this 917/30 #6 should be a must buy. Nonetheless, it took me a while to get one, despite it coming out last year. Since I was happy with my Minichamps version, I prioritized just the 917/30 #0. In fact, at first I thought it was the same car as the Minichamps. Yet, recently I was looking over my 917/30s and I noticed the frontal air intakes. That got me curious why it was different on Spark’s model, which prompted me to do some research. After I learned the story, I decided I “needed” one in the W-143 Garage 😁. And here it is – not a winner, but a gem of a model.
PS: And oh, according to a number hand-written on the plinth, this is a limited edition model. Mine is #577/900. However, is a run of 900 models actually “limited”? Debateful, in my humble opinion 🤔.