An Artcurial auction will take place from 18 to 20 March, as part of the Rétromobile show (Paris) which has been postponed. Before presenting the different Endurance models that will be offered, one of the jewels of this sale: a Porsche 907 ex factory and which competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times in 1970, 1971 and 1972.

The 907 marked an important turning point for Porsche. Launched for the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans, the model was no longer aimed only at the category victories that no longer counted the 906 and 910 (called 906/10 by the factory), but the general classification of the World Endurance Championship events. For example, to give himself the best chance, Ferdinand Piëch decided to move the cockpit to the right, a more favorable position on the circuits.

The first 907s were in a "long tail" configuration (LH, Langheck), with a 6-cylinder 2-liter engine. The model was well born since it finished fifth at the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans at more than 200 km/h on average, behind the Ford 7 liters and Ferrari 4 liters. The following year, Porsche took advantage of the change in regulations that limited the displacement of the Prototypes to 3 liters and that of the Sport to 5 liters, discarding the GT40 Mk II and Ferrari P4. Ready from the beginning of the season, the 907s, this time equipped with a more powerful 2.2-liter 8-cylinder (280 hp) took the first three places at the 24 Hours of Daytona.

There was only one step left for the 907 to evolve into a 908, by rebore the 8-cylinder to 3 liters. After narrowly losing to Ford for the 1968 world title, Porsche won it for the first time in 1969 thanks to the 908. Thus, the 907 is the first step towards a domination that continued in 1970 and 1971 with the 917. A total of 21 Porsche 907s were produced: six in 1967 and fifteen in 1968. The last twelve had a short, more versatile configuration. In 1968, the model scored three championship victories in the general classification: 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and Targa Florio. The car of the sale of Artcurial is the penultimate produced (the last number of the series is 907-032). It was born in short version and 8-cylinder engine 2.2 liters 270 hp. Our Porsche 907-031 came out of the Zuffenhausen workshops a month before the 1000km race at the Nürburgring, and benefits from the latest developments made in May 1968, To fight in Germany, the Porsche factory lines up two 907 (2 liters) and two 908 (3 liters).

The Neerpasch / Buzzetta crew is at the wheel of our chassis of the day. This car lost time at the beginning of the race because, bordering on the fuel shortage, Jochen Neerpasch returned to the pit in slow motion, but retained his fourth place. It then starts to rain and the duo takes the opportunity to recover its delay. At the finish, Porsche triumphed with a 908 and a 907 in the first two places. The 907-031 is fourth, ahead of several Alfa Romeo and the Hobbs-Redman Ford GT40.

After the glorious result of the Nürburgring, the car was overhauled and the Porsche factory decided to part with it. A certificate dated 10 January 1969 and bearing the signature of Ferdinand Piëch indicates the sale of the Porsche 907-031 to Alejandro Soler-Roig in Barcelona. With this Porsche 907-031, he participated in 1969 in several events of the World Championship with Rudi Lins, his teammate. Under the colors of the Escuderia Nacional CS team, the season begins with an unfortunate clash at the 24 Hours of Daytona where the Porsche, surprised by a cloud of smoke caused by the explosion of the engine of a Jaguar, is caught in a carom involving several protagonists. After being sent back to the factory for repairs, the Spanish crew resumed at the next event, the 12 Hours of Sebring. The 907 is 16th in practice but, thanks to a regular race and thanks to the abandonments, signs a magnificent fourth place, first private crew behind the factory teams! At the 6 Hours of Brands Hatch, the car was forced to retire, but in June, at the Jarama event of the Spanish Championship, Alejandro Soler-Roig won the race ahead of a Ford GT40 and another Porsche 907.

Vic Elford and Umberto Maglioli achieved pole position, lap record and overall victory in the Porsche 907-8 in 1968.

After receiving a 908/3 in 1969 and ordering a Porsche 917 from the factory the following year, Soler-Roig no longer used the Porsche 907-031. It was sold in 1970 to the Wicky Racing Team. André Wicky lined it up and participated in about twenty races in 1970 (sometimes leaving the wheel to others, such as Gérard Larrousse at the Paul Ricard Trophy). For the 1970, 1971 and 1972 seasons, Wicky Racing continued to run the car in the hands of different drivers, the most regular of whom was Peter Mattli.

The #907-031 participated in the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans under the number #61, driven by André Wicky himself and Jean-Pierre Hanrioud where she gave up at the 17th hour (throttle problem).

In 1971, André Wicky again entered his 907-031 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Walter Brun and Peter Mattli. She races in the Proto category. Consistency was the team's goal and it paid off: 14th at mid-race, the 907, equipped with the 6-cylinder engine (engine of the #907-030) this time, finished in 7th place, just 381 meters behind the winning Porsche in GT! She is crowned with the 1st place in Sport Prototype.

In 1972, she finished 18th at the 24 Hours of Le Mans under the number #24 (Peter Mattli / Hervé Bayard / Walter Brun). Also in 1972, Mattli obtained a class victory at the 1000 km of Monza in pouring rain and with his teammate Hervé Bayard.

After a long racing career where she raced in the United States, Africa and Europe, she completed her first life in mid-1973. In the second half of the 1970s, Ecurie Wicky Racing will sell some of its "old cars" that are no longer competitive. The two 910s in the stable were sold to an American collector and Albert Eggs, a Swiss collector from the Valais region, bought the 907-031.

The latter had it restored before exhibiting it in a small local salon in Sierre in the Valais region in May 1979. In 1983, Albert Eggs put the 907 on sale via an ad in a motorsport magazine. It is then that the car will be sold to its current owner: Ernst Schuster. The latter, a high-flying amateur driver, participated in the 1986 endurance season in a Porsche 936 C and he finished sixth overall in the 1986 24 Hours of Le Mans. He was then associated with Siegfried Brunn and Rüdi Seher.

The 907 was then restored over four years, from 1991 to 1995, which allowed the car to take part in the Tour Auto Historique in April 1995. This is the beginning of a second career in history, on an obviously more moderate pace, including a participation in Le Mans Classic.

Estimate: €4,000,000 - €6,000,000

Photos: Artcurial, Porsche, McKlein.de and Michel Faust