Porsche’s Legendary Racecar Designs – Centennial 24H Le Mans and “Pink Pig” Taycan

The Centennial Version of the 24Heurs de Mans race is across the nook and this text has a glance into a few of Porsche’s iconic racecar liveries. Talking of which, we drove a Porsche Taycan Turbo S in Switzerland with the well-known “Pink Pig” livery, an actual head turner and picture magnet in public.

First let’s put together for the 24hours of Le Mans race this weekend. The Porsche Penske Motorsport works workforce showcases a spectacular foil wrap on its three Porsche 963 vehicles to mark this 12 months’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The designs pay tribute to traditionally vital motor racing colors and acknowledge the joint celebration of the seventy fifth anniversary of Porsche sports activities vehicles and the one centesimal 12 months because the tradition-steeped occasion was first contested in France.

The colors of sponsors reminiscent of Martini, Rothmans and Gulf in addition to the enduring designs just like the “pig” and “hippie” have been recaptured – by to the purple of the Porsche Salzburg workforce. All of them honour superb and spectacular performances on the best and most historic long-distance race on this planet.

Seven distinctive stripes in yellow, purple, darkish blue, mild blue, inexperienced, pink and orange adorn the three Porsche 963 entered within the Hypercar class at Le Mans. These colors pay tribute to legendary racing automotive liveries from Porsche’s lengthy and illustrious historical past.

Let’s decide one of many stripes: Pink, the legendary “pig” unfortunate within the race. In 1971, the Porsche 917/20 delighted followers, drivers and officers at Le Mans. Porsche’s designer Anatole Lapine sketched the butchers’ cuts of pork on a basecoat of pink and labelled them accordingly: snout, ham, pork knuckle and mind. Endearing nicknames had been fast to seem. The automotive pushed by Willi Kauhsen and Reinhold Joest was dubbed, amongst different issues, the “truffle sniffer from Zuffenhausen”.

Finally, the time period “Sau” prevailed in German-speaking international locations, whereas in English, the automobile received the identify “Pink Pig”. In 1971, the meaty automobile did not carry out in sporting phrases: whereas operating in fifth place, Kauhsen/Joest retired shortly earlier than the tip of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. On the revival of the livery, the state of affairs improved: the Porsche 911 RSR decked out within the “Pink Pig” design scored the GTE class win on the Sarthe in 2018 with works drivers Kévin Estre, Michael Christensen and Laurens Vanthoor.

GTspirit photographer David Kaiser had the pleasure to shoot a “SAU” themed Porsche Taycan Turbo S close to Lake Constance and later drove the automotive within the close by hills.

After the driving motion the assessment finishes with some extra images of the Pink Pig surrounded by farmland and exquisite mountain surroundings.

Images by David Kaiser, you may observe the 24Hr of LeMans on @porsche.motorsport. The Taycan was kindly supplied by PZ St.Gallen through Porsche Schweiz