One to Buy: ex-Jean Blaton 1974 Porsche 911 3.0 Carrera RSR
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Having created the fabled 1973 model year 911 2.7 Carrera RS to homologate the most extreme Group 4 racing car possible (the 911 2.8 Carrera RSR), Porsche went on to dominate the ‘73 season in a fashion hitherto unseen.
For 1974, a further uprated RSR was produced on the new G-body 911 platform. 50 examples of the 911 3.0 Carrera RSR were produced and they became the car-to-have for 1974.
When the FIA subsequently delayed the proposed 1975 Group 4/5 rules from coming into effect until 1976 (and Porsche offering no de-facto customer car for 1975), the ‘74 RSR remained highly competitive for another season in Europe.
With turbocharged engines outlawed from IMSA until 1977, updated iterations of the ‘74 RSR were still potential race winners across the Atlantic until the late 1970s.
This example, currently on offer at the DK Engineering showroom in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire, was sold to Belgian privateer, Jean Blaton, who raced under the pseudonym ‘Beurlys’.
Blaton began racing in 1957 with an old Ferrari 166 Mille Miglia. He moved on to various iterations of the 250 GT including both a GTO and LM. A series of Ferrari P cars followed along with a Ford GT40.
In 1974, Blaton purchased his first Porsche racing car, this 911 3.0 Carrera RSR: chassis 9114609072.
He raced it at the next two editions of the Le Mans 24 Hours; 1975 was a DNF owing to clutch failure but 1976 saw Blaton, Nick Faure and John Cooper finish a superb sixth overall and second in the Group 4 class.
Blaton then purchased a 934 for 1976 and chassis ‘9072’ was sold on.
