Pete05
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- 7,330
- Melbourne, Australia
Since the early 1950's the name of Porsche has always been closely associated with reliable high-speed sports cars for both road and track.
Porsche's list of endurance racing successes at all levels is phenomenal, but until the late 1960's they concentrated upon the 2-litre class and did not reach for overall race victories until 1968.
Their early ambitions had included Formula Two racing, with 1500 cc air-cooled cars derived from their highly successful sports racers of 1958. By 1960 they were proving competitive in that class. When the 2.5-litre Formula One was discontinued at the close of that season it was replaced by a 1500 cc capacity limit and other restrictions close in detail to the Formula Two regulations of the previous year. This gave Porsche a head start when they entered Grand Prix competition. In 1961-62 their silver-painted cars became an integral part of the World Championship scene.
Porsche hired Dan Gurney and Jo Bonnier, the American and Swedish drivers who had done so well for BRM. During the first season's Formula One racing in 1961 both men proved intensely competitive with the Type 718. This tubby, squat, little car was directly derived from the sports racing Type 718RSK and was powered by a horizontally opposed, four cylinder, air-cooled engine which gave - to quote it's often disgruntled drivers - "about as much power as the Volkswagen Beetle on which it's based!" Despite criticism these cars handled well and produced competitive lap times on most of the world's circuits.
Porsche always considered that a well-developed, multi-tubular spaceframe chassis was the lightest and most competitive structure upon to base a racing car. The single seat 718 exemplified that in it's spidery latticework frame. But then Porsche's aerodynamicists decided to clothe it with a bulbous body shell which gave ample airflow around the engine to cool it and afforded enormous cockpit space, making the car rotund, but popular with larger drivers. The front suspension, consisting of trailing arms and torsion bars, was a faithful copy of that used on the Volkswagen Beetle, while double wishbones and coil springs were employed at the rear.
http://www.statsf1.com/en/porsche-718.aspx
http://www.carelgodindebeaufort.com/718-f2.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_718
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