Welcome to EWR Models.

I have been collecting models for well over 30 years and have far too many to be healthy! I thought I'd use this blog to share pictures and info on various modles in my collection. I mainly collect models of Porsches but have spread my wings to motorsport and Volkswagen Group models.
Please use either the archive, post list or the search function (at the bottom of this page) to browse through all my models ~ including any I have for sale.
To contact me just leave a comment on any of the posts (newer is better)and I'll make e-mail contact as soon as possible (please don't forget to leave a contact e-mail address).

23/12/2009

Der Trüffel-Jäger von Zuffenhausen


The 1971 24 Heures du Mans saw the famous "Trüffel-Jäger von Zuffenhausen {truffel hunter from Zuffenhausen} or Pink Pig or Cochon Rose" Porsche 917/20 make its debut. Designed to be the synergy of all 917s it drew its fame from the colour it was painted rather than its race results. The 917/20 had a unique aerodynamic body that combined the handling of the short-tail 917K with the high speed stability of the long-tail 917L ensuring it was as stable as any 917 through corners whilst being the fastest of all 917s down the Mulsanne straight in 1971.
Reinhold Joest and Willi Kauhsen were entrusted with the car for the race andwere running 3rd overall when Joest crashed into the barriers and retirement. Despite originally being blamed on driver error the retirement was actually down to brake failure and not Joest's fault. With the 917/20 running faster than any other 917 brake wear was correspondingly high, unfortunately Porsche hadn't factored this into its race stratergy so the car crashed before having it's brakes replaced.....
Why was it pink and painted with various pork cuts? Less to do with the motorpsort division of Porsche and more to do with the marketing department. Having been called a styling 'pig' a few times in the German press it was decided by a marketing bod that painting the 917/20 up as a butchers drawing would be a great idea. The rest as they say is history, very pink and very unusual but history none the less!
The Pink Pig only raced once during it's Le Mans career so models of it are, unsurprisingly, less common than those of the 917K and other 917s. Pictured is one of two Pink Pig models I currently have in my collection. This one is the less than inspiring DEA version, although it remains very true to the 1971 race car by having Ripple rather than Rippe (as seen on the restored version) on the tail section.