ONE of the most famous endurance racing cars ever built is expected to attract offers of £2.5 million when it goes to auction next month.

The 1970 Porsche, which was driven by some of the greats of motorsport, will go on sale at Bonhams Goodwood Revival Sale on September 12.

It began life as one of the legendary Gulf-JW Automotive racing team's entries for the 1970 Targa Florio and Nürburgring 1,000km races and was driven by the likes of Richard Attwood, Björn Waldegård, Pedro Rodriguez and Leo Kinnunen.

It finished fifth in the great Sicilian Targa Florio, and qualified second fastest on the German Nürburgring circuit.

Later sold and converted by Porsche into a 908/03 turbo for the 1975 Martini Racing programme, it finished third at Mugello, Italy, co-driven by Gijs van Lennep/Herbert Müller, and once again raced in the Nürburgring 1,000km where it was co-driven by Kinnunen/Müller.

The car then won the famous Mainz-Finthen InterSerie race.

It was later raced by Jürgen Neuhaus, Jürgen Barth, Axel Plankenhorn and Dr. Sigi Brun.

Fitted with a 660bhp twin-turbo 2146cc flat-six cylinder engine, the car most recently finished second at Ricard-Castellet in 2013, and is eligible for the Le Mans Classique, Proto Seventies and Pre-1980 endurance series events.

In its racing heyday the super-light, super-compact 908/03 was the absolutely minimum car for the maximum engine.

Initially in 1970 it had a three litre engine with flat eight cylinder power before in 1975 when it was re-engined with the two litre turbocharged flat six cylinder engine.

James Knight, Bonhams international group motoring director, described the item as a rare opportunity grab a piece of motor racing history.

He said: “This Porsche has outstanding provenance, having been entered in nearly 30 races in-period, including the Le Mans 24-Hours, the Targa Florio, and the Monza and Nürburgring 1,000kms."

The vehicle is expected to attract bids in the region of £2.2 million to £2.5 million.

The Bonhams Goodwood Revival Sale takes place on September 13 at Goodwood Motor Circuit, near Chichester. For more information visit: bonhams.com/departments/MOT-CAR.