The Centennial Edition of the 24Heurs de Mans race is around the corner and this article has a look into some of Porsche’s iconic racecar liveries. Speaking of which, we drove a Porsche Taycan Turbo S in Switzerland with the famous “Pink Pig” livery, a real head turner and photo magnet in public.
First let’s prepare for the 24hours of Le Mans race this weekend. The Porsche Penske Motorsport works team showcases a spectacular foil wrap on its three Porsche 963 cars to mark this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The designs pay tribute to historically significant motor racing colours and acknowledge the joint celebration of the 75th anniversary of Porsche sports cars and the 100th year since the tradition-steeped event was first contested in France.
The colours of sponsors such as Martini, Rothmans and Gulf as well as the iconic designs like the “pig” and “hippie” have been recaptured – through to the red of the Porsche Salzburg team. They all honour glorious and spectacular performances at the greatest and most historic long-distance race in the world.
Seven distinctive stripes in yellow, red, dark blue, light blue, green, pink and orange adorn the three Porsche 963 entered in the Hypercar class at Le Mans. These colours pay tribute to legendary racing car liveries from Porsche’s long and illustrious history.
Let’s pick one of the stripes: Pink, the legendary “pig” unlucky in the race. In 1971, the Porsche 917/20 delighted fans, drivers and officials at Le Mans. Porsche’s designer Anatole Lapine sketched the butchers’ cuts of pork on a basecoat of pink and labelled them accordingly: snout, ham, pork knuckle and brain. Endearing nicknames were quick to appear. The car driven by Willi Kauhsen and Reinhold Joest was dubbed, among other things, the “truffle sniffer from Zuffenhausen”.
Ultimately, the term “Sau” prevailed in German-speaking countries, while in English, the vehicle got the name “Pink Pig”. In 1971, the meaty vehicle failed to perform in sporting terms: while running in fifth place, Kauhsen/Joest retired shortly before the end of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. At the revival of the livery, the situation improved: the Porsche 911 RSR decked out in the “Pink Pig” design scored the GTE class win at the Sarthe in 2018 with works drivers Kévin Estre, Michael Christensen and Laurens Vanthoor.
GTspirit photographer David Kaiser had the pleasure to shoot a “SAU” themed Porsche Taycan Turbo S near Lake Constance and later drove the car in the nearby hills.
After the driving action the review finishes with some additional photos of the Pink Pig surrounded by farmland and beautiful mountain scenery.
Photos by David Kaiser, you can follow the 24Hr of LeMans on @porsche.motorsport. The Taycan was kindly provided by PZ St.Gallen via Porsche Schweiz
