Enlarge / Yes, this 917 is wearing license plates. (credit: Icon Engineering)
The UK is known for plenty of things, but it’s not all fish and chips and dodgy Russian oligarch money. It’s also surprisingly permissive when it comes to registering vehicles for public roads. Thanks to a process called “Individual Vehicle Approval,” it’s possible to road-register cars that would likely be met with exasperated spluttering if you were to try the same thing in Germany, Japan, or most states in the US.
Take, for example, the Icon 917K, a street-legal replica of one of Porsche’s most famous racing cars. Yes, the UK will let you register a road-going replica of the car that dominated Le Mans (and the rest of sports car racing) from 1970 until the oil crisis kicked in. British journalist (and friend of Ars) Jonny Smith has driven it for the Late Brake Show:
The original