We are happy to welcome local author Jay Gillotti to the store to discuss his book Gulf 917, the result of three decades and more spent researching and gathering information on the Porsche 917, the golden age of sports car racing, and the work of JW Automotive Engineering. Jay and his wife, Debbi, live near the shores of Lake Washington and enjoy looking after three adorable Siamese-Balinese cats.
The Porsche 917 is one of the most successful and iconic racing cars of all time, thanks in part to its starring role in the Steve McQueen film, Le Mans. This volume presents a detailed chassis-by-chassis and race-by-race history of the Porsche 917s raced by the John Wyer/Gulf team. The book includes the history leading to the 917 and the partnership between Porsche, Gulf and JW Automotive Engineering. The cars profiled in the book were instrumental in Porsche’s taking of the 1970 and 1971 World Sportscar Championship titles as the Gulf-Porsche 917s won 11 of the 17 championship races entered.
Written with assistance from JWAE Chief Engineer, John Horsman, the book includes scans of his original race data sheets. The book also includes numerous rarely seen photos, many from Porsche’s archive. Detailed post-Gulf histories are presented for each car. Relive the exploits of driving legends Jo Siffert, Pedro Rodriguez and teammates Brian Redman, Leo Kinnunen, Derek Bell and Jackie Oliver as they race the Gulf 917s on the fast tracks of an evocative motorsport era
