The one-off Porsche 917/20 is special among the various 917 versions. Porsche engineers, together with the French company SERA, took on the challenge of combining the advantages of the short-tail and long-tail versions of the 917. Its body was very wide and the wheel cuts very rounded. The track width remained the same and the wheels were hidden deep in the wheel housings. The nose was low and flat like the new long-tail coupé, but shorter.
Of particular note is the bizarre paintwork that has led to the 917/20 being referred to as the ‘Pink Pig’, the ‘Big Berta’ or the ‘Truffle Hunter’. Porsche designer Anatole Lapine adopted the pink body colour, sketching butcher-style cuts on a pink base and labelling the body parts ‘snout’, ‘ham’, ‘pork knuckle’ and ‘brain’.
In 1971, the Porsche 917/20 caused a sensation at Le Mans: the car, driven by Willi Kauhsen and Reinhold Joest, set the fastest time in pre-race qualifying, despite being completely untested. However, in the main race, the 917/20, which was running fifth fastest, was dropped just before the end of the race due to an accident.