A rocky start The first F1 safety car was a "lemon-yellow" Porsche 914, and it made its debut at the rain-soaked 1973 Canadian Grand Prix. It was a far cry from the kind of sports cars used today.

The closest the car world ever got to a flat-eight-powered model was a one-of-a-kind (well, two-of-a-kind) prototype built by Porsche in the late 1960s: the 914/8, based on the 914. The 914 was ...