Against All the Others: Porsche’s Racing History, Volume 2 – 1969
by Randy Leffingwell
“Then, in mid-1968, in the middle of all these series, Ferdinand Piëch faced a truly fateful decision. Forced by the feints, bluffs, and boasts from Enzo Ferrari, and by an FIA Group 5 requirement that seemed as ever-changing as the wind, he ordered into being 25 new 5.0-liter racing cars, the Typ 917. And he did this without clearing it with his uncle.”
This finely crafted paragraph is an excellent summation of the almighty race car at the center of this book. The car was so demoralizingly dominant that it basically had to be legislated out of existence in short order, and that arc with all the “fits and starts and digressions” makes for one unusual story. If the 917 is already on your radar you will relate to a sentence buried in the book: “It was an exceptional car in theory.” In practice, well … it’s all sorted out here; and see photo:
Several pages discuss the preparatory testing for Le Mans. From the notes:
Neither car is directionally stable and therefore cannot be driven at top speed.
Interior gets hot and visibility is poor.
After pit stops, neither engine will restart.
Front hood arches up during travel.
The brakes are not effective.
Windshield wiper lifts off windshield at high speed.
Windshield fogs over when it rains.
Joy!
Volume 2 of a series of still undetermined length (5000+ pages—of which almost a thousand are already in the first two books—in a dozen or more volumes) is at last available. More joy: the rather longish gap between Vols 1 (2024) and 2 is not a sign of things to come but was due to circumstances specific to the topics covered and thus the atypical length of this installment. In other words, if you’re worrying you won’t live long enough to see a complete set in your bookcase, don’t use vol. 2 as the metric—there really is a goal of two additional books a year, which will be shorter and probably cover more than one year each (Vol. 3 is already on the drawing board). And let’s not forget that Leffingwell has kind of a head start because this whole project once had an original start date of 2013 but then, you know, life … or more to the point, death, that of publisher David Bull whose successors needed some time to regroup.
Speaking of the passage of time, realize that while at present vol. 1 is still available from the publisher, the print run for subsequent volumes will be smaller, so don’t vacillate.
The book reproduces the entire 917 sales brochure. The story behind those two tails is one of intense disagreement, turf wars, skepticism, and ultimately success.
Enough with the preliminaries. About vol. 1 we said “prepare to be impressed.” Ditto for vol. 2, and not only because it’s a hundred pages longer. Come to think of it, vol. 2 could easily have been the first book in the series because its core topic would be the most accessible point of entry into the Porsche racing story, the rule book-breaking fearsome 917. But without the groundwork laid by vol. 1 that story would be lacking dimension so thumb through it once more in preparation. Quick reminder: not all books in the series will appear in chronological order of Porsche history.
A book reviewer’s first question: in an overcrowded field, what does this book do differently? It is not often that a book satisfies the expectations of different constituencies: the newbie will find here a solid and reliable grounding; the expert will learn new things which of course means unlearning the old where provably fallacious or doubtful (provided you recognize those bits; the book doesn’t, and really couldn’t call them out); the hoarder will be induced to clear shelf space by retiring several linear feet of now-redundant material; and the collector who never intends to tear off the shrink wrap can justify his investment saying that the sheer monumentality of this series sets it apart.
These aren’t Porsches and this isn’t a Porsche facility. How does Opel play into this story?? Apropos of nothing in particular, observe there are several American cars in this 1950s German parking lot.
But let’s talk specifically to the motorsports historian. No matter where your exact interests lie (marque, model, racing series) this book has many things to say about many things. It is uncommonly immersive because it doesn’t have to rush, and, obviously, because its seasoned author has material to draw from that is the result of decades worth of research even if was not solely, exclusively for this book. We could pick an excerpt from just about any page and say it represents something worth knowing, worth reading. Leffingwell works with a trusted and capable editor, and other sterling collaborators, and would be the first to say that many hands are required to make a book stand out. Also, at a time of run-away prices the paltry MSRP of $120 for this mammoth book seems like a typo. (Readers in Europe should turn to Horton’s for stock.)
Sidebars, often pages long, take the story into other directions, here electrification.
Before we make an obvious point let’s start with an even more obvious one: this book devotes over 500 pages to one year; some might write that much about the entirety of Porsche history, heck the history of the world and all that is in it. Meaning, there is an enormous amount of detail on offer here because Leffingwell had unprecedented access. Recall that it was Porsche that nudged him to sign up for this project. Aisles of file boxes, hundreds of interviews, thousands of hours of reading—no wonder he has found threads from which to weave a tapestry that does not slavishly follow the established canon.
This 1969 book begins with a 1968 recap, followed by a 1969 preview, all the events of the season, and ends with a review. And that quote on the left, well, wise words for any time: “He who has his thumb on the purse has the power.“
A good place to start the book is at the back, with a look at the Bibliography (books, magazines, interviews) to calibrate expectations. While there, make a mental note that there are Notes—because if you just looked at a book page you wouldn’t know to expect any as there are no callouts (let alone footnotes on the page). The downside is that the quote, phrase, or fact that starts off a Note now has to be remembered as you return to the page referenced, which you then have to scour line by line to find the match. Do that a couple dozen times and you will grumble plenty. Thus endeth the picking of nits. Well, there is the all-white book cover that anyone who has the good sense to set the dust jacket aside while manhandling 6 lb of book will be at a loss to keep pristine.
Photos that tell stories. Leffingwell’s captions are as engaging as the body copy.
Leffingwell quotes from his sources at length, juxtaposing POVs where needed. Even if you have your own material to hand, this points you in the right direction or refreshes your memory. There is an intelligently organized (and typeset!) Index, the photo captions are brimming with detail (and, again, typeset in a reader-friendly manner). This is an easy book to work with, and, thanks to the generously sized type it’s also easy on the eyes.
When you finish the book and mop your brow, the plethora of drivers and engineers and managers will take a long time to fade from your conscious mind, and that seemingly simple-sounding excerpt above now represents worlds within worlds. A book can do no better than that.
Something you do not see every day!
Copyright 2026, Sabu Advani (speedreaders.info).
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