Founded in 1931, the Porsche brand only began to mass-produce its own models in 1948 with the 356. Designed on the mechanical basis of a VW Beetle, it therefore had to make do with a 4-cylinder 1.1-litre flat engine developing 40 hp, but makes good use of it thanks to its lightness and aerodynamic finesse.
Eager to establish the marque's reputation in the areas of performance and reliability, Ferry Porsche followed the resumption of the 24 Hours of Le Mans after the war in 1949 with great interest. So much so that he decided to hire a lightened version (in aluminum) and profiled (keeled wheels) of his 356 from the 1951 edition. manages to finish the race by winning its category (less than 1.1 litres) with, at the wheel, a tricolor crew made up of Auguste Veuillet (Porsche importer in France) and Edmond Mouche.
A life-size test bench for the Zuffenhausen engineers, the 24 Hours event will, from there, be the scene of Porsche's rise to power. From 1953, the appearance of the mid-engined 550 RS 1.5, designed for racing, allowed the brand to regularly rank in the first five cars at the finish, in the middle of much more powerful models. The progression continues with the 718 RSK Spyder 1.6 which ranks third in 1958. If the German mark shines less in the general classification the following years because of the merciless fight between Ferrari and Ford during this period, the series of models closed body 904, 906, 907, 910, then 908 nevertheless allowed German engineers and aerodynamicists to familiarize themselves with very high speeds, until 1968 when Porsche came close to victory, finishing second with a modest 907 2.2 litres, and third with the new 908.3 litres.
But it was in 1969 that the brand really displayed its ambitions by presenting the legendary 917 powered by a 12-cylinder flat engine of more than 530 hp, thanks to a production of 25 copies allowing it to be homologated in the sports car category. (limited to 5 liters of displacement), rather than in prototype (3 liters). Although the three 917 entered retired that year, the victory being won on the wire by a young Jacky Ickx in a state of grace at the wheel of a Ford GT40 at the end of his reign, the newcomer had time to demonstrate his superiority. in terms of pure performance. The triumph is also total for Porsche the following year with a triple made up of two 917 K and a 908 for the 1970 edition, followed by a double of the 917 models in 1971.
Frightened by the performance of these "sports cars" which then flirted with 600 hp and 380 km/h in top speed, the CSI (International Sports Commission) decided to limit their displacement to 3 liters for the 1972 edition, for which Porsche cannot enter official cars for financial reasons. The German manufacturer then preferred to continue developing the 917 for the North American Canam championship and to further its research in the field of turbocharging. The French brand Matra took advantage of this and signed three victories in a row in the Sarthe in 1972, 1973 and 1974 with the MS670 prototype with 3-litre V12, while the 1975 edition was won by the Mirage GR8 Cosworth.
Porsche returned to victory in 1976 with its new 936, an open barchetta powered by a turbocharged 2.1-litre flat-6 engine. The German brand thus goes down in history as the first to impose this technology at Le Mans. Then began a period of almost total domination of Porsche in the Sarthe, which won 10 victories out of 12 participations between 1976 and 1987, with successively the 936 gr6, the 935 gr5, then the closed prototypes 956 and 962C. But Porsche's finances are bad, and the brand's involvement in endurance is gradually declining as the competition wakes up.
Thus, between 1988 and 2014, the German brand only won four times, in 1994, thanks to a regulatory loophole cleverly exploited by a reconditioned 962C to be entered in the new GT1 category, in 1996 and 1997, as an engine manufacturer, and in 1998, this time with a 911 with specifications worthy of a supercar, as it was specifically developed for the GT1 category. Porsche's involvement at the highest level in La Sarthe only really started again in 2014 with the launch of the very sophisticated 919 Hybrid with a 2-litre V4 turbo engine entered in the LMP1 category. A model with which the German brand will win the 2015, 2016 and 2017 editions, bringing to 19 the number of its victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A record to beat and a series in progress since Porsche returns to Sarthe for the centenary edition in 2023.
