[Video] Huge 8.8-litre V8 March 717 rumbles up Goodwood Hill | GRR
There are very few things you really need to know about the March 717. It’s a development of Robin Herd’s Group 7 707, it has an 8.8-litre Chevrolet V8, and it is slightly wider than the HMS Ark Royal.
OK, some more things to note, the trumpets definitely look like they should be found at the Royal Albert Hall, and it has the small matter of 800PS. Other than that, in the best Can-Am tradition, it is pretty much some quite flimsy metal strapped to an engine bigger than our office and unleashed into the world.
At the Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard in 2016 it was driven (or rather given its size, captained) by Ross Hyett, a man who must have neck muscles the size of oak trees to keep looking forward when this thing accelerates.
The 717 is not a car made for the turns, even with that massive rear wing. It looks ungainly around Molecomb, but when Ross puts his foot down, good lord does it move, and that massive V8 lets out a growl that would make a grumpy bear run and hide. What a wonderful machine.