The 917 is SOOOOOOO..... cool It took me a good 30 mins to drop the idea of doing a SLC and building a 917 instead when I was there to order my SLC. The thing that really had me thinking was the alum tub. Having had a long hard look at at other 60s Porsche prototypes (908,910) it is the lack of drivers protection at the front that has me really spooked. Your feet are about 6 inches out in front of the tires in a 910 and I think that the 917 isn't much better in it's original space frame form. Frans car on the other hand is clearly much safer. The foot-box is fully enclosed and looks to be several time stiffer/stronger that the light tube frame that is used in the real car. I think where you would loose your feet, 30-40 mph into a concrete track wall, in a Porsche tubeframe chassis you would only have a dinged up chassis in the RCR car.
The other thing is, a 917 has a huge built in resale value. Can you imagine that car complete and running hard laps at a Porsche club track day. Those guys would be lined up with check books in hand all day long.
The thing that brought me back to the SLC in the end is the ability to do a comfortable ride along at track days. There is much more room inside for two people in a SLC. The 917 would really be a one person car on the track. And..... the ($$$$) it takes to build a 450hp Porsche engine. I figure it would be at least 4 times as much as a SBC.
But......I really liked that 917. If I didn't already have a GT40 I would do one for sure. Really my second best choice for a historic 60s racecar that can be run on the street.
Really a fine job of doing a old race car to modern standards.