This chair, of course, must be paired with the Porshce 917 couch, which will allow you to move from a semi-upright to a reclining position without relinquishing your fight against Ferrari.

Source: Design Spotter

When you look at vintage photography of motor racing, you may be led to believe that back when racing wasn’t a global media spectacle, the stars constantly hobnobbed with their fans. This is probably not true. But what certainly is true is that modern motorsports events guard their principal actors behind security systems the Secret Service would approve of. At a Formula One race, or at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, you can barely see the pits, let alone the drivers, who speed by behind Armco and barbed wire at 200+ MPH in full-faced helmets.

The Festival of Speed is supposed to be different. For one thing, there are an incredible number of famous people present from all walks of motoring. Racing drivers past and present, rich petrolheads, carmakers: they are all there. Add to that the remarkable access you have to the cars themselves: Porsche 917’s and Silver Arrows race full throttle behind a 1950s-style hay barrier and you can walk up to multimillion-dollar racing cars, pat them on their Gurney flaps and no one will chide you.

Let’s see the few notables who have walked or driven in front of my camera.

Jay Leno

Weird news: Leno is no shorter and no taller than on screen. I ran into him at 10:02 AM as he was giving an interview to a TV crew in front of Goodwood House. He was very nice, posing with kids and giving them autographs. Later in the day, he drove a Harrods-liveried McLaren F1 GTR up the hill.

Emanuele Pirro

The great Italian Le Mans winner—his five titles at Le Sarthe are equalled or topped by only four men—was in the Audi area, driving an R15 back to the pits.

Sir Stirling Moss

Britain’s “all-around hero”–as the official program called the 80-year-old racing driver—was very active all day, not only for an octagenarian but for anyone out in the wind and the sun all day. He drove his 1955 Mercedes-Benz W196 and also the outgoing special edition of the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, pictured here, which bears his name. I didn’t actually see him out of his many cars, but he came on the screens dotting the are several times during the day.

Sir Jackie Stewart

The hilarious Scot had many of his brilliant blue Matras and Tyrrells on display and on the track. He also spoke on a panel with Alan Jones about modern Formula One, which you’ll be able to read about shortly. He is seen here around noon, signing autographs.

Alan Jones

The Australian is the man who gave Sir Frank Williams the first of his seven Drivers’ Championships in 1980 with the ground effects FW07. He was on a panel with Sir Jackie and proceeded to sign autographs.

Al Unser

The four-time Indy 500 winner was one of many American racing heroes on the scene, seen here driving up the hill in the 1978 Lola T500 car which gave him his third win at the Brickyard.

David Piper

You may not know this pipe-smoking Englishman but he is one of the coolest privateers in the sports car community. He has driven his privately entered Ferrari 250 GTO’s and Porsche 917’s over decades, all painted in Piper’s trademark cornfield green. He was a stunt driver for the movie Le Mans and crashed badly during filming, losing one of his legs. This, of course, has not stopped him driving his 917.

Damon Hill

In spite of his F1 world title a 13-year-old memory now, Hill still has an incredible cult in Britain. Out of nowhere, he walked past me by the Formula One area, followed by a rooster tail of fans screaming DAMOOOOON at the tops of their lungs. Hill escaped into a VIP area and proceeded to sign a few more autographs before he escaped inside, followed by frustrated cries of more DAMOOOOOOOOON. He is seen here at the moment of escape.

Wiggle your big toe. Wiggle it with enough determination and your feet, clad in racing boots, will pop into place. All snug? All buckled up? Palms not too sweaty on the balsa wood shifter knob? Good. Your toes will now serve as figureheads on a great German ship of aluminum and titanium. Now say hello to the twelve air-cooled cylinders set to turn your cabin into a furnace and blast you down the Mulsanne Straight at 246 MPH.

When the Porsche 917 debuted at the Geneva Motor Show on this day forty years ago, nobody knew it would come to define the very spirit of Porsche. The 917 gave the company its first of 15 victories at Le Mans. In four years, it morphed into the most powerful racing car ever made. Steve McQueen turned it into a movie star in his 1971 film Le Mans. But on that March day, all Porsche had was an unsorted prototype with abysmal aerodynamics. It would have died a quick death if not for the willpower of Ferdinand Piëch, who would go through similar misery to produce a car with similar perfomance thirty years later in the Bugatti Veyron.

The difference between the two is that anybody can drive the Veyron—as proven by Top Gear’s James May—but when the 917 debuted, racing drivers would’t touch it with a stick. And just consider the titanic amounts of chutzpah one needed to get into any death trap of a 60s racing car, which killed drivers with greater precision than earlier examples of German engineering killed GI’s.

The 917 wouldn’t stay on the road. Its lightweight aluminum spaceframe was barely enough to contain the immense power of the engine, an air-cooled flat twelve which began life with 580 naturally aspirated HP. Before that could happen, an engineer by the name of John Horsmann had to figure out a new tail configuration to make the car handle. These days, we have computers and wind tunnels to help, but back then, aerodynamics was Formula 1 guys sticking random wings on tall struts and Jim Hall hacking away at his Chaparrals in Texas. Horsmann’s version increased downforce at the expense of drag and the 917 Kurzheck—German for “short tail”— was born. This was the car that won the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans, the stage for McQueen’s car nerd epic.

The 917 repeated its performance the next year before it was outlawed for 1972. Derek Bell, who would claim five victories with the 917’s successors, remembers in an article he wrote for the October 2008 issue of Octane:

Testing for the 1971 Le Mans, [Porsche chief race engineer Norbert] Singer asked me what revs I was pulling in the 917 down the Mulsanne Straight. I told him 8100rpm, which he said was a good thing because the engine would blow up at 8200rpm! That equated to 246 mph and we have never been quicker since.

The car would then cross the Atlantic to race in CanAm. With the addition of turbocharging it morphed into Moon rocket lunacy and became the Turbopanzer, also known as the 917/30, which made 1100 HP in race trim and won every race but one in the 1973 CanAm season. It retired at Talladega Superspeedway in 1975 with driver Mark Donohue—who had a week to live—taking it around the tri-oval in a 225 MPH blitz.

Yet ask people about the 917 on any side of the Atlantic and nobody remembers it anymore. Racing regulations and drivers have come and gone and Porsche has been away from Le Mans for a decade now. So why it the 917 still worth remembering? It was the last in a line of sports racers which were out to kill you, which pushed the performance envelope at the expense of safety and sanity, and when you swap your eyes with those of its driver, it still gives you a queasy, insane ride around Le Mans:

And remember: your toes, vulnerable little antennae, are in front of the front axle all the time. They get stuck in the aluminum bodywork as you wiggle for the brake pedal at the end of the Mulsanne at Mach 0.32.

Happy birthday, now, you big bad savage thing.

Photo Credit: Frank van de Velde, Porsche, edvvc

10.) Mercury Marauder

Hearkening back to the good ol' days, the Mercury Marauder is one of the few modern cars to appeal to the dark side. Based on the same Panther platform that underpins countless Crown Vic police cars, the sight of one of these sends chills down the spine, and when you throw in the blacked-out windows, grille, headlights, taillights and pillars you end up with one spooky sled. There's a reason why the CIA and the Feds ordered up a bunch of Marauders.

9.) Plymouth Satellite

If, like the eponymous movie wants us to believe, cars have personalities, then the Plymouth Satellite is a scary zombie. At the very least, a ghost-white one with a little rust and a missing bumper is the perfect car for a zombie crew to jump in and use to terrorize the locals. Wait? Zombie drivers? We just came up with the best movie idea. Someone call Spielberg.

8.) Buick Roadmaster Station Wagon

In a decade defined by optimism, there was something deeply pessimistic about the nineties-era Buick Roadmaster. Built on the same b-body platform as a number of other GM wagons, the Roadmaster has an angry stature amplified by the long, mean nose and partially-covered rear wheels. Powered by a version of the 5.7-liter LT1 V8 used in the Corvette, a black Roadmaster wagon has the power to chase down lost souls and the room to store them. Paging the Grim Reaper. [Photo: StationWagon.com]

7.) Avanti II SportCoupe

We always thought a Studebaker Avanti coupe would have made a better batmobile than a Futura. With nary a straight line to be found, a tail end that abruptly comes to an end and a chrome bumper that looks like it has a pair of fangs we wonder if this isn't what Dracula drives when he turns into a bat. Combine that with those empty eyes and we doubt this spooky SportCoupe could see its own reflection in its shiny moon wheel covers.

6.) Lincoln Continental Mark III

Few vehicles bring the promise of misadventure and doom than a Lincoln Mark III. Squelch on a bet? A bookie in a Mark III is going to show up at your door and throw you onto the 16 acres of hood real estate. Drop a dime on a gangster? A dude named Tony and his friends Anthony and Anton will be happy to make room for you — in the trunk. Unlike the softer, luxurious luxury cars of the era, the Mark III clearly states that it means business. All black and chrome with those covered headlights, this Lincoln is prepared for stealthy mayhem. [Photo: SeriousWheels.com]

5.) Alfa Romeo Montreal

If Vader tools around in a GNX and the reaper has a Roadmaster wagon then Satan himself drives around in an Alfa Romeo Montreal. Don't let the name fool you: The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world that he was a Canadian. As Dante will tell you, the Antichrist is clearly an Italian guy and we don't imagine that his unholiness would drive around in a Ferrari. There's no doubt the Montreal's evil-looking grimace, angry NACA duct and 1970s Italian dependability make it the perfect car for lapping the eighth circle of Hell.

4.) Plymouth Valiant V-200

For your classier demon there's not much better than a Plymouth Valiant V200. From its demonically styled grille to the creepy fender chrome, the Valiant V-200 is ghoulishly awesome. The creepiest feature on the car, and on nearly any car, is the trunk, which appears to include the door to the underworld. Though this feature is actually for the spare tire, it looks like a portable gate to Hell.

3.) Porsche 917

Though we think of Porsches as small and sleek sports cars, the Porsche 917 is something of an outlier. Though fast and wonderful, it looks like a giant scary monster come down from the hills to eat the villagers. The sloping wings, huge inlet and bulky styling are more Frankenstein than Frankfurt. The 917/20, a.k.a. the "Pink Pig", is perhaps the most frightening of them all. From most angles it looks like a stitched-together bird-pig-man hybrid. Run, run for your lives from the Trufflehunter of Züffenhausen!

2.) Buick GNX

When the Buick GNX debuted, Car And Driver ran a review of it with the headline "Vader, Your Car is Ready" and that connection has never left the car. Ignore the fact that nearly every part, down to the wheels, is black. Ignore the evil grimace on its face. Ignore even the Buick's blade-sharp lines that scream "I will cut you and not look back" standing still. The thing that makes the GNX truly scary looking is the site of this G-bodied two-door from the late 80s screaming down the street to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds and running a quarter-mile in 13.26. Evil incarnate.

1.) Rolls Royce Phantom Jonckheere

The single most frightening looking car in history also has one of the most spine-tingling names of any car. The Rolls Royce Phantom Jonckheere Coupe may be one of the finest automobiles built, but we fear the person who actually drives around in one of these. Built without concern for cost or common sense in the 1920s, the history of the car is somewhat murky but we wouldn't be surprised if it spent some time in Transylvania. From the rear three-quarter view it actually looks like Dracula's cape flowing in the wind. And on the inside? A blood red, entirely made of the finest materials. If you're ever invited inside make sure to bring a wooden stake with you.

You can own this classic for $12.99 at Amazon, but if you live near a Borders we've confirmed rumors that it can be had in the bargain bin for just $9.99. At that price, you might as well get two so you can play it in stereo.