Porsche 917 LH No. 3 Larrousse Kauhsen Practice Version 24h Le Mans 1970 Werk83 1:18

The 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans was the race that cemented the Porsche 917's place in motorsport history, and the practice paddock that week contained one of the most visually striking cars of the entire era. Werk83 has documented this precise moment in their 1:18 resin model of car No. 3, replicating the psychedelic 'Hippie' colour scheme worn by the Larrousse/Kauhsen entry during qualifying — a livery that never appeared on the grid in that form.

A Flat-12 Built for the Mulsanne

The Porsche 917 LH — Langheck, or long-tail — was a dedicated high-speed variant of the 917 developed specifically for the Mulsanne Straight. The elongated tail section reduced aerodynamic drag and allowed very high top speeds. Power came from a 4.5-litre air-cooled flat-12. This combination of power and slippery bodywork made the LH both the fastest and most challenging 917 variant to drive at race pace.

Flower Power in the Le Mans Pits

Gérard Larrousse — the racing driver who would later build his own Formula 1 team — and endurance specialist Willi Kauhsen brought car No. 3 to Le Mans for the 1970 season. During practice sessions, the 917 LH appeared in a vivid psychedelic scheme that reflected the late-1960s counter-culture aesthetic: a flower-power composition that contrasted sharply with the Gulf blue-and-orange palette of the era. The car did not finish the race, classified as a DNF, but the practice livery has become one of the most recognisable visual artefacts of that Le Mans weekend — a weekend that ended with Porsche's first overall victory, taken by the Herrmann/Attwood 917 LH.

Werk83's 1:18 Resin Interpretation

Werk83 is a resin model manufacturer recognised among collectors for high-fidelity livery reproduction and fine surface detailing. The 1:18 scale model of the No. 3 Larrousse/Kauhsen Porsche 917 LH focuses specifically on the practice version — a deliberate choice that distinguishes it from any race-day release of the same car. Resin construction allows the complex graphic work of the Hippie livery to be rendered with the precision the subject demands. The practice-version designation is a known convention in high-detail model production, applied here to capture a livery that existed for only a matter of days in June 1970.