While the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo is faster around a circuit than any other Porsche before it, an argument could be made that it doesn’t come close to matching the insanity of the 917, in particular the 917/30 Can-Am racer. This independent creation from designer Alan Derosier imagines what a modern Porsche 917/30 Can-Am could look like.
The original was built by the German automaker for competition in 1972 and came outfitted with a 5.4-liter twin-turbocharged flat-12 engine that could produce up to 1,580 hp in qualifying trim. The car is a true icon of Porsche’s illustrious racing history and in addition to sporting a manic powertrain, it was adorned with truly insane bodywork including a towering rear wing.
Derosier’s modern-day Can-Am racer from Porsche has been designed to sit on the chassis of a 918 Spyder. However, unlike the 918 or the 919 racer, the 918/30 Can-Am isn’t a hybrid and instead features two twin-turbocharged flat-six engines from the 911 GT2 RS merged into a single quad-turbo 7.6-liter flat-12 that could pump out a theoretical 1400 hp and likely much more than that if Porsche set about tuning and modifying the internals.
Visually, the 918/30 Can-Am is bathed in a sexy livery combining aqua with purple, orange, dark yellow, and black. One of our favorite aspects of the design are the two huge air intakes directly behind the cabin to help feed air into the monstrous engine. Like the great 917/30 Can-Am, there’s also a huge rear wing.
Sadly, Porsche will never make a race car like this due to its ongoing electrification strategy.