Two very extreme Porsches old and new, and the fastest MINI yet ...

[Wouter Melissen]

During the 1950s soon to be arch-rivals Ferrari and Porsche mostly competed in different classes but from the early 1960s the two legendary manufacturers gradually became direct competitors. One example was the European Hill Climb Championship for which both produced two-litre prototypes. Porsche had the upper hand in 1967 but the threat of an-all new flat-12 powered Ferrari, inspired the German manufacturer to push the envelop further than ever before. The result was the 909 Bergspyder, which tipped the scales at just 385 kg or 850 lbs. One example of the extremes the engineers went through, was the use of beryllium brakes; although very light, beryllium dust is toxic so the discs had to be chrome plated before they could be used. In order to ensure not a single steel nut, screw or washer was used, Porsche's motorsport supremo Ferdinand Piech supposedly went over the entire car with a magnet. The complete, and at times baffling history of the 909 Bergspyder can be found in our detailed article, which illustrated by an all-revealing 12-shot gallery of the example that is current on display in the Porsche Museum.
Porsche are again pushing the envelop with the 918 Spyder, which is scheduled to be launched in 2013. Built around a carbon fibre composite monocoque, the new supercar is powered by a hybrid drivetrain that consists of a competition derived, 570 bhp V8 engine and two electric motors. Following the release of pictures of a bare prototype, the German manufacturer have now published these pictures of a very thinly disguised test car. The 'camouflage' used is inspired by the 1970 Le Mans winning 917.
During this weekend's MINI United event at Paul Ricard, MINI revealed the limited edition John Cooper Works GP. Like the previous version, which was past on the first generation MINI Cooper, only 2,000 examples will be produced of what promises to be the fastest road-going MINI yet. No technical details have been revealed but according to MINI, the car is capable of lapping the Nurburgring in 8:23; a full 19 seconds faster than its predecessor.

Enjoy the links:

1968 Porsche 909 Bergspyder - Images, Specifications and Information

2012 MINI Cooper JCW GP - Images, Specifications and Information

2013 Porsche 918 Spyder - Images, Specifications and Information

[Cyco]

The 909 is an amazing example of what the Porsche engineers were able to achieve when they pushed the limits. Great write up, too.

[RacingManiac]

How does chrome plating contains the toxic dust? Won't that wear away from the disc anyway?

[henk4]

Originally Posted by RacingManiac

How does chrome plating contains the toxic dust? Won't that wear away from the disc anyway?

maximum distance for a hillclimb is about 15-20 km, so chances are that the chrome may last for a weekend...

[clutch-monkey]

that porsche is just nuts! i wonder what they make the driver go through to save more weight haha

[pimento]

Originally Posted by clutch-monkey

that porsche is just nuts! i wonder what they make the driver go through to save more weight haha

Like what Christian Bale went through for The Machinist, but without the apples.

[RacingManiac]

Originally Posted by henk4

maximum distance for a hillclimb is about 15-20 km, so chances are that the chrome may last for a weekend...

So they just use the hard chrome as the wear surface of the brake?

[henk4]

Originally Posted by RacingManiac

So they just use the hard chrome as the wear surface of the brake?

indeed, to prevent the toxic dust generation.

[f6fhellcat13]

Sorry to revive this thread, but both the 909 and its article are fantastic.

Also, henk, why hasn't Citroen used the nitrogen fuel pump idea yet?

[Matra et Alpine]

Only came across this today
Pics of the 909 are excellent , but cant really convey how tiny this car is !!

[henk4]

Originally Posted by f6fhellcat13

Sorry to revive this thread, but both the 909 and its article are fantastic.

Also, henk, why hasn't Citroen used the nitrogen fuel pump idea yet?

for a diesel?

[f6fhellcat13]

Originally Posted by henk4

for a diesel?

When they were trying to consolidate all systems on the car and run them off the pressurized fluid from the hydraulics. I meant it to be tongue-in-cheek, but it would be an interesting thought experiment.