While the many, many Kelmark and Bradley GTs running around (or parked on craigslist) can become practically commonplace, the “Laser” Porsche 917 replica is seen far less frequently. Consisting of a nose panel that does a decent job of mimicking the aggressive snout of a genuine 917, the rest of it falls off from there in terms of fooling anyone that it’s the real thing. Still, there’s potentially cheap fun to be had if you check out the car here on eBay, which is listed for $4,500 or best offer.
I first saw this kit car when I watched Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo as a young’un, and was convinced that yes, Herbie actually defeated a genuine Porsche 917 through a series of hi-jinks and some pretty fair country driving. However, years later, consider that dream deferred since the proportions alone (never mind the VW-sourced pan and powerplant) will quickly remind you otherwise. CGI may not have been a “thing” when the Herbie franchise was produced, but artificially speeding up the film certainly was.
The seller says this Laser was built and then parked shortly afterwards. It sat for many years (40, to be exact) and shows all the classic signs of disuse. The pictures aren’t great so it’s hard to tell if that’s moss or just severely weathered carpeting. While this may not be the most compelling project in its current form, a quick visit to the site Race Car Replicas should convince you that there’s potentially a worthwhile project underneath if a Porsche flat-six can be sourced cheaply, or even a Chevy LS-series engine.
It would certainly be an upgrade over the current powerplant, which doesn’t run but is free, according to the seller. One of the biggest mistakes with this design is how the wheel and tire combo is often too narrow for the wide body. If a Laser 917 were to be built with a custom adjustable suspension featuring a wide set of staggered wheels, it would make a much more compelling argument for restoring and further modifying. Who cares about fooling the neighbors – with gullwing doors and those bugeye headlights, just make it loud and low.
I never thought I would say this . . . but the Pinto in the background looks more interesting . . .
Even more interesting…. the little pink race car.
Fool whom?
👽 or grandparents with Alzheimer’s?
Pinto looks good as well as pink lil vette🤠
LS, why not a Subaru swap?
Tatra air cooled v8 swap Mike!
How about the Dung Beetle that Azn runs in Street Outlaws?
WOW! Sure did have me fooled.
One thing that I will never forget from my days of living in Los Angeles were the trips to Hermosa Beach and drooling over the 917’s in race livery on the showroom floor of Vasek Polak.
Right! He would have had the real deal. He was a legendary name in P-cars.
Vasek also had many BMW race cars in the shop
Carl Haas had a similar race-car shop supplying Lolas in Highland Park, IL, before moving west to Lincolnshire, IL as he grew and found success in Indycars and other motorsports.
My wife and I lived in Highwood at the time, just north of Highland Park, and I spent many hours staring in Haas’ “store” windows, trying not to drool over the merchandise!
Only if the neighbors are fools.
If this car can fool the neighbors, then perhaps you should start thinking of moving to a better neighbourhood!
Ha! Best comment of the day!…maybe even the week…
I beg to differ…….nowadays the majority of residents of these “better” neighborhoods you speak of know squat about cars. And a lot of these folks werent even born when these came out.
At work I park amongst the BMW, Mercedes and Lexus brands and the owners can quote the sales brochures all day long but when something as simple as tire replacement comes up they are like a lost ball in high weeds.
In most of the British Cities you’re lucky if U actually speak or know your neighbours! Makes me feel extremely grateful I live in a Rural area where people actually speak with each other!
Or, sell it to one of the neighbours!
This thing needs a Corvair drivetrain.
My thoughts also. I just happen to have a 917 laser in my back yard
I’m sure it would fool someone who knew nothing about Porsche 917s…
These were pretty well-made kits in their day, and would make a fun toy for someone to cruise around in.
As as aside, I wonder if wuzjeepnowsaab and Dolphin remember the guy who put a real 917 on the road, back in the 1970s? Like the guy who owned the McLaren M6B GT that had been converted to street use, or my friend’s, Jim Toensing’s, Indy-Ford powered GT40, it was one of those great OTT rides, four-plus decades ago.
Weren’t all of the original Ford GT40’s essentially a race car, even the “street” version. No matter what, they are one of my favourites.
The guy? Teo guys- joachim weismann in germany with “kw 917k” and the italian Count Rossi of Martine heritage
Wonder if this is–or could be–street legal? It would make quite an appearance in my very large retirement-oriented community! (They already know I’m nuts.)
Hmmm–I do have a good 912 engine on the workbench…
Hi Deborah King,
I live in an Arizona retirement community – any gal interested in cars is a gal I might be interested in. I’m single – are you?
$3500 overpriced. Rotten chassis, no engine and no title? Strong cult following for these though.. built right they can be fun. But not for those over 5’10” and 180#’s. Rear vision is non-existant. Front view is scary.. all you see are the tops of the fenders.
Still would like one in complete and driver or better quality.
I’d need a magnifying glass mounted on the steering column to see those gauges.
Scrap it NOW.
Hah! Nope, 47 years married. Besides, I’d shrivel up in Arizona, LOL.
(The above comment was supposed to be a response to Not Rusty, but I guess it got misdirected…)
One of my favorite memories of this car was seeing a Chicago police officer pull a guy over that happened to be driving a white one. He was smiling the whole time & I was sure that he just wanted to make the guy get out and produce all the usual paperwork, while embarrasing him in front of his girlfriend in the passenger seat. Heck, I was amused too, having seen real 917s race….
We had a guy in our Chicago-area rotary engine car club around 1982-1983 who had one of the properly-built Laser 917 cars with a Kennedy adapter for the Mazda rotary engine he had in it. He was an insurance salesman and got it for kicks, but was pulled over on I-90 heading into Wisconsin. He flew past the cop doing close to 160mph – the car only weighed about 1700 lbs wet – and pulled over a few miles up as, he said later, “I figured the cop would want to talk to me”. A few minutes later the cop rolled up, but with no radar reading he couldn’t do much, and no one would believe he clocked a car at that speed.
The car was a real sleeper despite the “fast” looks and a rotary tuned to put out a bit over 280bhp – WITHOUT a turbo. It was a side-ported 13B, Webers, and a custom exhaust.
Apparently the driver’s demeanor so impressed the officer that he spent 30 minutes looking over the car and never wrote a ticket.
Vasek also had many BMW race cars in the shop