Best Porsche 908 book?

[gionc]

Wich one deserve my money? From the perpective of a modeler, so speaking of details and eglish texts (if not italian.... but I dream...)

If I must be more accurate on the matter I would like to deepen my knowledge around the 908/3, but also the Langneck is interesting for me due my Fisher kit.

I collected several P917 book to discover that "my" bible is "The Undercover Story"... I would like to pick "my" 908 book without buy half dozen...

Thanks

[jaykay640]

Take this one here Gio:

http://www.amazon.de/Porsche-908-Lon...9138049&sr=8-3

It's the latest and pretty comprehensive ( sister book to the Gulf-Blue 917 book ). It's not like the "Undercover Story" for technical details but still very good.

If you need pictures of a 908/3 let me know :-)

[ScratchBuilt]

Perhaps I can be of assistance...?!

I haven't found a book on the 908 which goes into the sort of detail covered by 'The Undercover Story' on the 917 - especially from a modellers perspective. In any book there's going to be lots of photos of the cars in action, in the pits, etc - because I guess that's what most people want to see. There's only a small number of us who would prefer to investigate what's going on underneath!

The only 908-specific book I've found is the 'Porsche 908 - Seriensieger, Spezialist und Dauerlaufer' published by Heel. I'm assuming this is the same as the English-text 'Long Distance Runner' book? Lots of photos of all types of 908's, but only a few which are 'technical'.

Most coverage of the 908 is in general histories such as 'Porsche in Motorsport' by Peter Morgan, 'Porsche Racing Cars' and 'Porsche Prototype Era' by Bill Oursler, but again the focus tends to be on the cars in action. There's more of the 917 in these books, which is not a surprise.

Strangely, there is very little coverage of the 908 in 'Excellence Was Expected' - in the second edition, anyway. However, it does include a few engine and gearbox drawings, and a chassis layout of the 908-3. Some of these drawings (and the chasis plan) are also in the 'White Racers From Zuffenhausen' from Ludvigsen Library, so that's probably the cheaper way to get them! There's plenty other good photos in this book, so it's worth having.

Two useful books are the 'Sport & Prototypes Porsche au Mans' 1966 - 1971 and 1972 - 1981 by Francois Hurel. The focus is on the Le Mans cars, but there are some good photos of the white Brunn Racing 908-3 in the 72-81 book, and all the other 908's running at La Sarthe during this period (and if you're ever making a 936, start here).

Probably the most 'technical' of any of my collection of Porsche books is 'The Racing Porsches - A Technical Triumph' by Paul Frere, and the follow-up 'Porsche Racing Cars of the 70's'. I would argue that for anyone interested in what Porsche where doing on-track in this period, they are a must-have. There are all sorts of photos included, many of which I have not seen anywhere else - including 908-2 and -3 chassis. They're not the sort of big, glossy books we tend to get nowadays (the first one doesn't have any colour photos), but they are definitely worth tracking down. The pages on the development of the 936 and 935-78 make me wish that my scratch-building projects didn't all take two years to complete (and that's before you get onto the 956, 962...)

So - what to buy? I guess you'd have to have the 'Porsche 908 / Long Distance Runner', just because it's 908-specific. 'White Racers...' adds extra technical photos at little cost, and 'A Technical Triumph' tells you why they did it all, and how.

No single book (that I know of) covers every aspect of the 908, but it depends on what you're trying to achieve with the model. Anyone else have any suggestions?

Hope this helps!

ScratchBuilt

[gionc]

Thanks a lot guys! Really thanks a lot.

My intention is not to buy one but spend well money. I think now I'll

[gulfclk]

I could help with some highres pics of the chassis, cocpit, engine bay ...

Let me know if you need them!