Hello Again: Project 917, what’s new?

Culture

As the project becomes ever closer to completion, we asked for an update

Back in 2016 we introduced you to Project 917, a project with the predominant intention of bringing a great name from motor-racing’s history back into the present.

Fortunately, we can provide you with a major update on this very exciting project.

Project 917 Drive club

Ian Howe, the man behind Project 917 has since advanced the venture to the point where it is ready to make its way out of the pit garages and take its first laps in the sunlight. This is being done in a dual stage format.

First off is the crowd-funding campaign that will be launched on Tuesday 30th May via Indiegogo. This campaign will be the main source of funding for the group that makes up Sarthe Special Vehicles, the car company set up by Howe, that in the future will move beyond the 917.

Nevertheless, through this crowd-funding wing of the project the second and most exciting part of this first stage of the programme will be enacted. In order to gain and build wider interest in the project a full motion simulator is being produced by Rally Prep Ltd, the same people building the car itself.

As you can see in the photograph below the FMS (Full Motion Simulator) will be the form of the front half of a 1970 Gulf Racing Porsche 917K. Surrounded by three screens and with a cockpit suitably acquainted with bucket seats and replica steering wheel the aim is to give the impression of being on the start line of the 1970 Le Mans 24 Hours.

Project 917 sim

Furthermore, a system of actuators situated in the steering wheel and floor of the FMS will be designed to give you a clear idea and feel for the bumps and undulations of the Circuit De La Sarthe before it was inundated with chicanes.

Not only this, but there will also be a competitive purpose to the simulator’s existence. According to Ian Howe the, “fans will be able to support the project by purchasing drive experience vouchers and memberships of the 917 Drive Club. Fan Members will also get the chance to enter our Delaney trophy competition to find not only the fastest driver but also the biggest 917 fan and best drive experience in the simulator”.

The FMS then, is part of Project 917’s Drive Club that is a pillar of their crowd funding campaign. The Drive Club is how fans will not only donate and become part of the project but also how they will interact with Project 917. Three Membership options will be available, Martini, Salzburg and Gulf, each giving a variable levels of access and rewards.

Project 917 then, after multiple years of planning and organising, is now nudging its new nose out onto the circuit.

Now it’s out, the motoring and the motorsport world will be watching closely as it begins to develop.

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