Porsche 908

Porsche 908
Porsche 908/3 of 1971
Overview
Manufacturer	Porsche
Production	1968–1971
Body and chassis
Class	1966-71: Group 6 Prototype-Sports Car 1972-75: Group 5 Sports Car 1976-81: Group 6 Two-Seater Racing Car
Body style	Coupé Spyder
Layout	RMR layout
Powertrain
Engine	3.0 I flat 8 (908/01, 02, 03) 2.1 l turbocharged flat 6 (908/04)
Dimensions
Length	4,839 mm (190.5 in)
Curb weight	650 kg (1,430 lb)
Chronology
Predecessor	Porsche 907
Successor	Porsche 936

The Porsche 908 was a racing car from Porsche, introduced in 1968 to continue the Porsche 906/Porsche 910/Porsche 907 series of models designed under Ferdinand Piech.

As the FIA had announced rule changes for Group 6 Prototype-Sports Cars limiting engine displacement to 3000 cc, as in Formula One, Porsche designed the 908 as the first Porsche sports car to have an engine with the maximum size allowed. The previous Porsche 907 only had a 2200 cc flat-8 engine with 270 hp. The new 3-litre Flat-8 engine produced initially 257 kW (350 hp) at 8400 rpm, as well as some teething problems. Also, being traditionally air-cooled and with only 2 valves per cylinder, it was still down on power compared to more modern F1 designs which delivered over 400 hp (300 kW), but were not suited to endurance racing.

The 908 originally was a closed coupe to provide low drag at fast tracks, but from 1969 on was mainly raced as the 908/2, a lighter open spyder. A more compact 908/3 was introduced in 1970 to complement the heavy Porsche 917 on twisty tracks that favored nimble cars, like Targa Florio and Nürburgring. Sold off to privateers for 1972, various 908s were entered until the early 1980s, often retro-fitted with Porsche 934-based 2.1-litre turbocharged flat 6 engines.

The 908 is not to be confused with another sportscar of the same number, the Peugeot 908.

Despite winning the 1000km Nürburgring, the 908 was anything but convincing in 1968. The older and smaller 2200 cc 907 had started the season with dominating wins and later delivered better results than Porsche's first serious attempt in the prototype category. Meanwhile, the older 4.7-litre Ford GT40s Group 5 Sports Cars were winning races on the faster tracks, with the Ford P68 being a failure, Ferrari remaining absent, and the Alfa Romeo 33 still utilizing a 2000cc enigine. With the minimum production requirement for the 5000cc Group 5 Sports Car category reduced from 50 units to 25 for 1969, Porsche decided to go one step further and build the required 25 examples of a new 12-cylinder car, the Porsche 917. This risky investment should take about a year, though, and the 908 was supposed to deliver results in the meantime.