There isn’t a better way to advertise your new services for historic racers than the one Porsche chose and that is to bring a recently restored 917K painted in the all-time great Gulf livery to the Laguna Seca.

The German brand has recently finished the complete restoration of the vintage endurance racer which took the win in the 1000km race at Spa in 1971 and brought it to the Rennsport Reunion, the world’s largest celebration event for Porsche models which takes place at the Californian circuit between September 25-27.

Painted in the famous Gulf Oil racing livery since 2009 when the specific 917K was exhibited in the Zuffenhausen museum, the historic racer went under a full restoration process by Porsche Motorsport North America which started in 2012. Using the Porsche museum archives and consulting with witnesses of that time, Porsche Motorsport North America brought this frankly gorgeous machine back to its 1971 condition.

Owners of the company’s historic racing models can now address Porsche for maintenance and other services such as safety-related parts. Porsche acknowledges that these customers are more likely than other classic car collectors to enjoy their cars on their limits, and so offers them services like replacing the old seat belts with safer modern ones among others.

“The owners of these vehicles want assurance that their cars are track-worthy and that they can also rely on us if something breaks,” says Jens Walther, CEO of Porsche Motorsport North America. “We want to give them this assurance.”

Customers with historic vehicles will also be given the chance of storing their cars in the new Porsche Experience Centre in Los Angeles, expected to open its gates mid next year. There the cars will be maintained by experts between race events and even transported to the track if desired.

That’s some great news for racing Porsche collectors. As for the rest of us, a scan online for a balsa-wood gear shifter is enthusiastically recommended.

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