1967 Porsche 907K Replica by Erik Shahoian
Vehicle Details
- Year: 1967
- Make: Porsche
- Model: 907 Replica
- VIN: N/A
- Mileage Shown: 0mi (TMU)
- Transmission: Manual
- Title Status: Bill of Sale
- Color: White
- Seller Type: Private Party
- Location: Sonoma, CA 95476
- Lot #: V-0031423-DT
A machine built specifically to win the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Porsche 907 was later offered in a short tail “K” or Kurzheck version that went on to place first and second at the 1968 12 Hours of Sebring followed by a class victory Brands Hatch and a win at the Targa Florio. The car offered here is one of two painstakingly crafted recreations that were built side-by-side in 2006 at the hands of Erik Shahoian, an avid Porsche enthusiast with over 30 years of experience as an engineer and fabricator. He gained recognition after building a factory-correct Porsche 910 replica in 1995 and later assisted Dale Miller in resorting several authentic Porsche 908 race car. Impressed with his abilities, Niel Johnson commissioned Shahoian to build the continuation-style 907K we see today. Using extremely rare factory blueprints, Shahoian spent years fabricating and collecting the parts needed to complete to project. Its frame was welded from scratch over the course of 750 hours and incorporates a replica of the very last authentic NOS 907/908 steering rack as well as replicas of authentic suspension parts, brakes, gauges, lights, and other componentry sourced from the esteemed Vasek Polak collection. Proudly built and masterfully engineered with obsessive attention to detail, this faithfully cloned 907K replica is now being offered for auction by its seller out of California.
The frame was constructed using TIG and MIG welding with silicon-bronze alloy brazing throughout. The bodywork was crafted in the same thickness and weight as the original 907 and uses hand-laminated NOS German twill fiberglass cloth along with aluminum door and front & rear cover frames that were hand-shaped over wood mandrels. The body clamps are replicas of factory original Porsche parts. Windows were custom thermoformed using extremely rare amber-colored Plexi 10 plastic which is no longer in production. The car rides on lightweight magnesium racing wheels measuring 12”x8” in front and 12”x12” in the rear. The seller adds that this car has never been raced and has been kept on display as part of a private collection.
The cockpit features a pair of molded fiberglass bucket seats covered in red fabric as well as a Sabelt safety harness, a wooden shift knob, a fire suppression system, and a vintage three-spoke MOMO steering wheel. The exterior lights and internal gauges are replicas of authentic 907 parts. Beneath the dashboard, you will see a meticulously recreated factory wiring harness. Yellow-anodized oil hose fittings can also be seen throughout the car that were derived from an authentic Porsche 936 that raced at Le Mans. The oil and fuel tanks were fabricated and TIG-welded to exact specifications over several months using 5052-T3 aluminum.
Power comes from an air-cooled and mechanically fuel-injected 2.8-liter flat-six engine tuned by JWE Motorsports with an output of approximately 250 HP. The rear wheels are driven through a 5-speed Type 901 transmission featuring an identical 907K shift linkage. The suspension incorporates authentic and recreated Porsche 907K parts and stopping power comes from 908-style calipers machined from 911S units paired with 267mm AP Racing vented rotors which are identical to those of the original car. The seller notes that a larger stinger exhaust needs to be installed and the oil level is currently low. While this car never raced, its sister car went on to compete with multiple podium finishes in vintage CSRG races in America while driven by Jason Richardson.
The builder would like you to know: I'm Erik Shahoian. My passion for engineering, fabrication, and Porsches drove me to build two 907K race cars. Through the confluence of unique circumstances and people, this project became possible in 2004, when I was helping Dale Miller and Rod Gruener with new titanium ball spline axles and suspension parts for 908-03 restorations. I was an R&D engineer in Silicon Valley, and eager to apply mechanical engineering and CAD skills to that challenge -- the tolerances required to make the parts work were crazy. I had also just completed my first 910 continuation car. By staying faithful to all the details, I reproduced the parts that make that car the real thing. For me, the whole point was that it did not just look like a 910, it was a 910. I then discovered that Dale had the factory blueprints and bodywork for my favorite car, the 907 – my dream project. He generously enabled me with bodywork, factory blueprints, special German fiberglass cloth and other unique parts. I also met Carl Thompson, who sold me the missing new-old-stock parts from his ex-Vasek Polak factory parts collection. I reverse-engineered all of these parts. Carl offered his historical and expert guidance on originality and correctness. Many of the parts Carl sold me were the very last ones in that inventory. This car has Neil Johnson's name on it. When I met Neil at the very beginning of the project, I only intended to build my own 907. But Neil had to have a 907K. He had just read the Excellence feature on my 910 continuation car and saw a photo of 907 bodywork temporarily hanging in my living room as art. So, I approached Dale, and he agreed to just one more set of bodywork.
For the next three years, I occupied part of Neil's industrial shop space with my machine tools and built the two 907K cars side by side. This was a time in my life when I took a break from my high-tech career to immerse myself in Porsche race cars. After two years as a senior design engineer at Tesla Motors leading motor and chassis development, employee number 16, I shifted my focus to the 907 project and my own medical device start-up. I worked on very big and very small machines at the same time. In both my 907 and the one here, the magnesium and aluminum rack assembly is an exact copy of the one Carl provided. The Ti ball joint assemblies I made are now on factory cars in Europe and are racing today. The hubs are 5-axis CNC replicas of the originals, in the original alloy with all the heat treating, grinding, plating, and spline hobbing required, as this was done in 1967. Hollow magnesium upright castings were reproduced by 3D laser scanning and CAD. I did all the foundry pattern work and made all the match plate tooling. One of the other challenges was that some dimensions on the factory frame drawings were illegible. I drafted full-scale vellum drawings to verify the tube frame coordinates within a fraction of a millimeter. My drawings went on to help restore a damaged factory 907 car. Being able to create exact copies of famous race cars using my engineering, machining, welding, and composites knowledge is a joy to me. I machined each hollow titanium bolt on this car using my Hardinge Super precision lathe, each taking hours to turn. After doing all the reverse engineering and tooling, I went on to support a world community with spares for 917, 908, 907, and 910 cars from steering racks to wheels and ball joints, and body panels and Plexi 10 windows. Both cars sat for the next 10 years until my friend and professional race car driver Jason Richardson returned to the US in 2014 to find my 907K on display. He offered to campaign it in vintage racing. With the help of Vic Ofner, an ex-Porsche racing engine builder in Weissach, we built a proper 2.0-liter race engine with the same power as the original 6 cylinders used in the very first 907 races at Le Mans in 1967. Like the 910, the 907 has the option of either a 6- or 8-cylinder type 771 engine. The 6 proved to be a better engine. Jason and my 907K are now enjoying podium finishes in SVRA races.
So that's the story of how this sister car exists. This 907K is the last new and correct 907K available, unless Porsche decides to re-make all the tooling -- which is not likely. Making this car today, with the cost of engineering labor, fabrication labor, and materials, is no longer practical. I hope this car is cared for, and raced in competition by a driver who has the skills to really use it as it was intended in the day.
Auction Results
- Sold for: $400,000
- Auction End: Jul 20, 2023 04:49:34PM UTC
- Number of Offers: 1
Comments (41)
Sold for $400,000
$400,000 offer from San Marino, CA (91108)
Just a wonderful Porsche custom build to replicate the incredible 907K
Unfortunately, as a local residential general contractor/carpenter by trade, without the luxury of hitting the lottery, wonderful machine like this as well beyond my capabilities
However, one can always dream and look forward to seeing it, perhaps at Sears or Laguna in the future
I’m confident there are folks out there with the funds and the desire and hopefully the seller and builder can work out a sale with someone that will enjoy and use the car the way it was built and intended to be used
Thank you to the builder for sharing And best of luck for the future of this incredible Porsche. build
@Djpegan you are 100% correct to build this today would cost almost 2 times this price.
$500,000 is about 1/2 of what it would cost to built it in todays dollars. Hope it finds a home with someone who can put some competetive track miles on it.
Bummer. It sure looks like a 1/2 Mill.
Bid in the amount of $250,000
Just went to the SCCA races at Road America with the FCA. Brian Redmond July races. There were many cars on Track and this would have fit right in.
@VenomMotorsportInc Apologies for the type O The Cams are GE60 grind and the pistons are 10.5 to 1 compression.
Bid in the amount of $240,000
This is beyond belief...truly next level stuff in every way.
@mrboxsters Hi thanks for the question. At this time we are not looking building 904s.
Beautiful car! At 74 I remember the days when you could buy classic Porsche race cars for “modest” amounts at the time. So many missed cars. Any thoughts of doing the same continuation cars like the 904?
Bid in the amount of $225,000
@Gereed75 cc@Gereed75 The Engine is a 2869cc displacement with GE 60 Pistons and I believe a Hot Cam. The Car is being sold out of an estate as Mr. Johnson passed away and we were not able to secure the engine build binder that Erik does with each engine build. However if the winning bidder wishes to compete with this 907 We are happy to build a proper 2.0 Liter twin plug like the one we have in the 907K that I run. it produces a solid 235 HP and I do about a 1.50 at Sonoma Raceway with that engine. We also can offer support with the parts we have for the car and any private one on one coaching as far as driving the car. Really to focus on this auction is the car itself more so then the power plant Mr. Johnson chose to put in it. I personally did the test day in this car at Sonoma and the engine clearly has some good HP.
Beautiful build. I love it!
@Gereed75 The Engine was built by Erik Shahoian and I will look into what we have on the build. I do believe we have the dyno tune results from Jerry Woods Shop here in Northern California as well.
Bid in the amount of $215,000
Do you have a build sheet or other documentation on the engine?
Bid in the amount of $203,000
VMI, thank you for the clarification. This is automotive art.
@dsdepew Thank you for your questions. Car wont need freshening up. it has been in a private collection but never driven by the last owner. The engine was built for this car and also had not been used. The only run time for this car and the engine was when I did a shakedown with the car at Sonoma Raceway, So total miles on car and engine would be 15 miles estimated. As far as a cold start video I don't have that. I am checking to see if anyone did video of the car on track when I drove it that day at Sonoma. If I secure one I will have it uploaded.
Good morning
I very much appreciate your reply to my request to view the Porsche. at Sears Point, however, and I was confident this would be the case with such an incredible build, this Porsche, as well beyond my capabilities, financially
Please don’t bother the owner or yourself regarding a personal visit to review the car
Perhaps I’ll be fortunate enough to see it at some of the vintage races, either at Sears Point or Laguna Seca. in the future
PS if I do hit the California lottery in the next day or two I certainly will be back in touch
Best of luck
Steve
Bid in the amount of $200,000
I know it needs ‘freshening’ and some oil but can we get a start up and possibly a driving video? What is the estimated mileage on this? Beautiful build.
Bid in the amount of $100,000
@VenomMotorsportInc thanks for the reply. Yes, check in with the owner and if there’s a time that’s convenient I can drive down to Sears Point and take a look at it.
Perhaps if he’s going to be down there anyway or someone’s working on it such as yourself I just make a trip down and say hello and take a look
Steve
@sportscarguy3 the car is in Sonoma at the raceway currently. I would have to check with the owner on your request.
@krommetall at 6,5 you would not be able to have a helmet on and be comfortable unless we did a new seat for you the builder Erik is 6,2 and with a helmet on its tight a poured bead seat may solve that issue so that you can run it.
@jbauto I honestly do not know the answer to that question it is a race car so I am not sure how you would title it for street.
What an incredible and interesting Porsche. re-creation by a passionate builder
With five days to go, I am confident this custom build Porsche will slowly exceed my budget, however, traveling to Sonoma. It’s just a 45 minute drive for me and I enjoyed Porsche in the plaza as a PCA member this past weekend I would totally dig seeing this Porsche. recreation in person
Seller, any chance I could take a look at this Porsche?
Please let me know if your schedule might allow for a 10 or 15 minute visit
Good luck all
Being size limited, is there a chance of a person with the height of 6’5” be able to drive her comfortably? I’m in love with this build.
Wow. Effort should be rewarded here. Is there any chance this could be Plated in Florida or Montana. Once that is accomplished, it could be titled anywhere I think.
Bid in the amount of $19,670
I will never be able to own such a machine, but WOW, what a wonderful piece of art this one is ! Thank you for all your efforts. Simply stunning !
The additional build information provided by Erik is such an incredible story . So much dedication and attention to detail. It truly brought the car to life for the readers. Good luck to the seller and winning bidder!
Bid in the amount of $18,888
Bid in the amount of $13,000
Bid in the amount of $12,345
wow this is absolutely wild.
Hello and welcome to the auction of this Gorgios 907K. We thank you for viewing and bidding and are here to help and answer any questions you may have to the best of my ability. If you would like to know more about these beautiful cars, please feel free to review this feature article from Excellence that was done on the sister 907K to this one that's up for auction. https://www.excellence-mag.com/issues/293/articles/cloned-kurzheck