One to Buy: 1 of 1 Jade Green RHD 1973 Porsche 911 2.7 Carrera RS (SOLD)
Porsche first used the Carrera name for its range-topping dual overhead cam 356. It was adopted to honour the German firm’s success in the gruelling Carrera Panamericana road race held between 1950 and 1954.
Although the Carrera moniker subsequently appeared on a couple of purpose built racing cars during the intervening years, Porsche did not resurrect the name for a road-going model until late 1972 when the fabled 2.7-litre 911 Carrera RS was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show.
Fittingly, the new Renn Sport 911 was every inch the successor to those four cam 356s of yesteryear; Porsche created their hot new 911 in order to go Group 4 GT racing in 1973 and to that end fitted an array of trick parts with a view to exploiting maximum performance.
The bean counters in Germany initially thought the company would struggle to sell the 500 cars required for homologation. However, the 2.7 Carrera RS ultimately proved so popular that three times that figure were ultimately built although later cars did without many of the weight-saving measures installed on the first 500 units.
One of those early cars, chassis 9113600471, is set to go under the hammer at Bonhams’ Goodwood Revival auction on September 9th.
One of just eleven examples painted Jade Green and the only one completed in right-hand drive, this spectacular matching numbers machine was configured to M472 Touring specification and also optioned with the extremely desirable limited-slip differential upgrade.
Having covered just 69,000 miles from new, ‘0471’ is offered in superb highly original condition throughout.
Reprinted below is Bonhams’ description for this one-of-one 2.7-litre 911 Carrera RS:
Estimate: £650,000 - £750,000
Chassis no. 9113600471
Engine no. 6630491/911/83
Rare original UK-supplied right-hand drive model
One of the first 500 cars (with the thinner-gauge panels)
One of only 11 worldwide delivered in Jade Green (and the only RHD)
Present ownership for 23 years
Serviced and maintained by independent specialists
Immaculate condition
Extensive history file
"Nothing that is desirable comes easily or cheaply and the Carrera RS is no exception, but without question it is one of the great cars of the 1970s; the personification of GT motoring and race breeding." - Motor Sport magazine, February 1973.
Porsche revived the Carrera name for its top-of-the-range 911 in 1972, the model making its public debut at that year's Paris Motor Show on 5th October. Designated Carrera RS (Renn Sport), the newcomer was intended as a limited edition 'homologation special' to enable the factory to enter Group 4 competition in the Special GT class, with a minimum build requirement of 500.
However, the demand for this fabulous car proved so great that the production run was later extended by another 500 units, qualifying the RS to compete also in Group 3, which it would dominate. The Carrera RSR GT-category racer collected overall wins in the World Sportscar Championship at Daytona and the Targa Florio in 1973, defeating 3-litre prototypes from Ferrari, Matra and Mirage-Ford in the process, an outstanding achievement for a production-based car.
Based on a lightened 911S platform, the Carrera RS featured revised suspension and wider rear wheels (beneath flared wheelarches) for improved handling, while the 2.7-litre, fuel-injected, air-cooled, six-cylinder engine's 210bhp boosted top speed to around 150mph (240km/h). Not merely styling gimmicks, the Carrera's trademark 'duck tail' spoiler and front air dam made a vital contribution to high-speed stability and represent Porsche's first serious experimentation with aerodynamic devices on a production car.
Above all it was the reduction of weight that transformed performance. Lighter body materials and ruthless pruning of non-essentials brought the weight of the Carrera RS down to below 900kg, enabling it to devastate the competition on the racetracks of Europe and the USA.
Private customers wishing to purchase a Carrera RS could choose between two specifications: the Lightweight (M471) was intended for competition, whereas those who valued comfort could specify the Touring package (M472) which cost an extra DM 2,500 (￡430) and offered the luxury of the 911S's trimmed and upholstered interior. Excluding prototypes, Porsche built 1,580 examples of the 2.7-litre Carrera RS, the production chassis numbering sequence running from '9113600011' to '9113601590', the first 10 chassis having been prototypes.
Manufactured on 18th January 1973 and registered in the UK on 16th February that year, chassis '9113600471' is a right-hand drive matching-numbers Carrera RS to M472 Touring specification. In addition to being one of the first 500 cars, which had lighter body panels constructed from thinner gauge steel, this Carrera RS is one of only 11 cars worldwide to be painted in Jade Green, and the only right-hand drive example. In addition, '0471' was supplied new with a limited-slip differential, a highly desirable option on a car like this.
0471 is a very well-known car, featuring in Peter Morgan's Original Porsche 911 reference book (page 47 onwards). The Carrera has been owned by various well-known 911 connoisseurs and has been in the current owner's collection for 23 years. The car has covered a documented circa 69,000 miles and is in superb original condition, right down to the orange colour of the enamel bonnet badge, a rare original feature. Chassis '0471' is all too rare in combining a scintillating, taut driving experience with the original aura, smells and patina of a top-flight classic.
The car has been subject to sympathetic maintenance over the years by leading specialists. It comes with original keys, jack, first aid kit, tool roll and the all-important Driver's Manual Supplement. It is also supplied with a Certificate of Authenticity from Porsche.
The 2.7 Carrera RS is widely accepted as being not only one of the most significant cars launched by Porsche but, more broadly, one of the greatest sports cars of all time. The driving experience offered is all-consuming, combining a sonorous, rev-happy motor with the most sensitive and direct steering imaginable. The 2.7 RS deserves its legendary status and provides a welcome antidote to many of today's bloated, overweight, and overcomplicated offerings. We believe that it would be difficult to find an example as original and in such good condition as '0471'.
