What makes a person, a place, or a thing legendary? The word is thrown around like nothing and loses meaning, but there are truly legendary people, legendary places, and certainly legendary things that have existed in time. Petrolicious recently paired one of each together to create a film in their usual stunning fashion: The driver is Derek Bell, a successful and storied driver who carries, among others, five LeMans victories on his list of achievements. The car is the original Porsche 718, a derivative of the storied 550, a solid race car that works solely on the power of the engine and the stones that the driver has. Forget any driving aids of any kind…the Porsche is pure analog stimulation, complete with a soundtrack for you to enjoy. And the location is the Targa Florio, a monster of a track that covers forty-five miles of Italian roads and over 800 corners per lap. Oh, and it’s public, as well…this isn’t a racetrack, per se, but more along the lines of a road rally circuit. Targa Florio was retired in 1977 due to safety issues, but here we have a car that ran the course back in the circuit’s prime, and a driver who grew up fascinated by the drivers who piloted the race cars through the curves. It’s five solid minutes of a ride-along through the winding roads of Sicily, Bell working the Porsche in a manner befitting of a master. Make sure your speakers are up and your screen is in full…this is worth it.
Man, Those Webers were really stumbling right before coming onto the cams — there was a lot more engine there than tires….
Not sure they are Webers, maybe Solex? Big carbs high revving cams, 4 cam after all, needs to pull revs to be happy!