Porsche 718 W-RS Spyder Baujahr 1962
The Porsche 718 is a Porsche car released in 1958 and built until 1962.
It is half-engined race car based on the Porsche 550. Several versions have been developed, such as RSK and the annual updates such as the RS 61. In sports car racing, the 718 RS 60 gave Porsche an overall win at the 1960 12 Hours of Sebring, and several wins at the Targa Florio. In 1961, Masten Gregory and Bob Holbert Spyder piloted a 718 / 4 RS for a class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The engine was enlarged from 1500 to 1600 cc. In 1963, the Porsche 904 was the successor as the sport.
At the beginning of a road legal sports car with two seats, the 718 was changed first to a car Mittellenker moving the wheel in the center of the cockpit, and later in a real open-wheeled Formula Two cars.
Due to a change of rule limiting F1 to 1500 cc, 718 / 2 qualified as Formula One in 1961. Porsche entered the car in several Grand Prix races of the 1961 Formula One season, with mixed results. Four Porsches competed in the 1961 Dutch Grand Prix and finished despite the problems, helping to make this race, the GP only in recent decades in which all starters finished.
Overall, the 718 was deemed too big, too heavy, and power loss compared to the new competitive designs that appeared in late 1961, a season that was dominated by V6 Ferrari Dino 156. Corsairs as Carel Godin de Beaufort took the 718 in F1 until 1964. The 4th place of Gerhard Mitter in the German Grand Prix 1963 was indeed a remarkable achievement for a car that was based on a period of five years, road cars and 30 years of age road car engine design of the Volkswagen air cooled flat 4-cylinder engine. [edit]
In 1962, the Porsche 804 was the successor to the Porsche factory in F1 that was completed after the Formula One season 1962. Such was the demand of the race RSK718 prepared, Porsche decided to sell a version for road use and was designated the RS60 and RS61.
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