Event: Art Center Car Classic 2011, Part 3

Canepa Design was kind enough to bring out a couple of modest Porsches. 

The 917 doesn't need an introduction. It's legendary to anyone who is a fan of the 24hr of LeMans.

These cars were powered by a twin turbo flat 12 that was producing over 1000hp and was capable of hitting over 240mph down the Mulsanne straight.

That kind of power is absolutely insane when you consider that it was the early 70's and crash safety meant nothing more than wearing a seat belt and an open faced helmet. 

That being said, the late 60's and early 70's had come of the most beautiful racing cars ever built all competing on the same track.

We still can't wrap our minds around the thought of an air cooled boxer 12 running for 24hrs straight at full bore. That's difficult to obtain today, even with our significantly more advanced materials and engineering.

We couldn't help but try and sneak an "up skirt" shot!

It's nice to see the old next to the new.

Bruce Canepa helped Porsche bring together the Rennsport reunion at Laguna Seca and to thank him, Porsche gave him this 2008 Van Merksteijn Motorsport Porsche RS Spyder.

That's one hell of a way to let someone know you appreciate their effort!

We can only imagine the pure joy and excitement of the first time he strapped into this cockpit and fired up that engine!

Canepa has one of the best rare classic car collections on the planet and offer restoration services that are second to none.

It's their classic race car collection that has piqued our interest the most though. We hope to make the pilgrimage up to their work space one of the days here soon!