Majorette’s Tribute To The Iconic Truffle Hunter Of Zuffenhausen

I’m a big fan of Majorette. They compete with Hot Wheels and Matchbox in the mass market die-cast toy segment. But Majorette also occupies a great and unique niche in that segment with their race cars releases with (almost) realistic liveries. So Majorette’s releases are perfect to introduce kids to the icons of the racing world.

The Inspiration

Everyone knows about the Porsche 917, thanks to its racing history and its distinctive liveries. Every 917, be it the Salzburg, the Martini cars, the green/purple art cars and the Steve McQueen Gulf – is celebrated. And model car makers have paid their tributes the 917, both as scale models and with tribute liveries.

Between them, Hot Wheels and Majorette have released almost every single variant and livery of the 917. But Majorette has nudged ahead with their tribute to the one off 917/20, aka The Pink Pig.

Majorette released a tribute in 2020 as a 911 GT3 RS, just in time for the Pink Pig’s 50th anniversary. The casting is really of a road car and the color is not really accurate. But this tribute stays true to the original in another way. The tampo features the same pork cut labels – “Rüssel”, “Haxen”, “Kotelett” etc., as the original Pink Pig.

I am not *really* complaining. I collect cars with interesting stories and the “Pink Pig” fits right into my collection. Since then, Majorette has put the Pink Pig livery on their 917K casting, which I have too. The origin story of the Pink Pig livery is enough for me to collect every such tribute model.

The Origin Story

1971 was the last year of FIA’s prototype car rule book that birthed the OG 917. So Porsche decided to make one final attempt to push the 917’s performance envelope, ostensibly for a potential Can-Am program. Porsche started evaluating competing designs from their own team and from their French partner SERA. The objective was to blend the positives of the short tail 917K (high downforce) and the long tail 917 LH (low drag). And to the annoyance of Porsche’s own team, SERA’s design, the 917/20, won.

The unpainted 917/20 was a head turner during Le Mans practice in April 1971. The assembled press dubbed it “The Pig”, drawing parallels with its wide stance, low flat nose and rounded wheel arches. But the origin story isn’t complete yet.

Back at Porsche, Le Mans prep continued and designer Anatole Lapine stepped in for the livery design. Perhaps miffed at losing to SERA, Lapine decided to play up the 917/20’s porcine resemblance for kicks. He painted the car with a light pink color. Then he added labels to parts of the bodywork to mimic how a butcher marks cuts on a pork.

If that was not enough, Lapine added decals announcing his name for the car (“Der Trüffel Jäger von Zuffenhausen”) on the front fenders. And the 917/20 would immortalized forever as “The Pink Pig” or the “The Truffle Hunter of Zuffenhausen”.

Post Script

The “Pink Pig” qualified 7th for the 1971 Le Mans (its only race) as an entry from the Martini team. Piloted by Reinhold Joest and Willi Kauhsen, ran as high as 3rd during the race. But brake failure forced its retirement after 180 laps and 12 hours. But the experience helped Porsche in its CanAm campaign for sure.

Porsche kept the 917/20’s basic proportions intact for a new iteration called 917/10 for the Can-Am series in 1972. That year, Penske Racing’s 917/10s won 6 of the 9 races and their driver George Follmer won the Drivers Championship with a handy points margin. Porsche had a monster year at Can-Am in 1973. The 917/10 won every single race. Roger Penske driver Mark Donahue won 6 of those on his way to the top of the Drivers Championship. In fact, the four of the top 5 drivers in 1973 drove 917/10s.

Even though the 917/20 was a one-off, the eye catching livery has meant that it has attained cult status. It gets routinely picked in top 5 livery lists. Even within Porsche, the Pink Pig is an icon. In fact, Porsche entered a Pink Pig liveried 911 RSR at Le Mans in 2018 to mark their 70th anniversary. And this time, The Truffle Pig of Zuffenhausen won its class.