#0340 Le Mans 24 Hours 1978

#97 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR
Larry Perkins / Gordon Spice / John Rulon Miller
14th place overall, 2nd place in IMSA GTX category

There were Le Mans enthusiasts who not only wanted to race but also wanted to design and build their own car. Gordon Spice is such an enthusiast, but first came to the Sarthe as a driver. In 1978 he raced alongside experienced Australian "Lightning" Larry Perkins, who won the Bathurst 1000 five times, and American John-Rulon-Miller, who drove at Le Mans for the fourth and final time that year. Their racing car was a bright yellow Porsche 911 Carrera RSR used by Charles Ivey Racing, which was to have great success in the 1980s. They finished 14th in a year in which the "glass dome Renault" A442 won the race. The RSR is shown in the painting in front of the Ecurie Francorchamps Ferrari 512 BB. This experience of Gordon Spice must have encouraged his intention to build his own car, the Group C2 that bore his name, with which he competed at Le Mans for almost a decade and in which he won five driver's trophies - including four at the hands of Spice himself.