One to Buy: 22,000 mile 1 of 4 RHD Bahia Red 1973 Porsche 911 2.7 Carrera RS Touring
Although Porsche only expected to find buyers for 500 examples of their new 911 2.7 Carrera RS homologation special, the model proved so popular that over 1500 were completed by the time production came to an end during the summer of 1973.
Over the next few years, the vast majority of these served as arguably the fastest point-to-point road cars around thanks to better, more exploitable real world performance than anything with a lumbering great V8 or V12 engine.
However, it was precisely that turn of speed, combined with the legendary robustness of Porsche’s products, that led a sizeable number of 2.7-litre Renn Sport 911s to embark on some kind of circuit racing, rallying or hillclimbing career – even when they were no longer in the first flush of youth.
One such example is currently on offer at the Trofeo Cars showroom in Holt, Norfolk.
Chassis 9113600980 was configured as a right-hand drive M472 Toring spec. machine painted Bahia Red and optioned with a variety of upgrades to include sports seats, electric windows and an electric sunroof.
Supplied via AFN in London on May 4th 1973, the car’s first owner was a Mr A.V. Georgiadis who retained chassis ‘0980’ until April 16th 1975 at which point it was reputedly part-exchanged for a new 911 Turbo.
The Bahia Red RS (one of just four right-hand drive exampels) was then sold via AFN to Isle of Man resident, John Dodsworth.
In anticipation of an outing on the Manx International Rally (September 12th and 13th), Dodsworth had ‘0980’ fitted with a half roll cage and entered an airfield sprint to familiarise himself with the new car. Dodsworth and his navigator, Stuart Comish, ultimately finished the all-tarmac Manx an impressive seventh overall.
John Dodsworth went on to retain chassis ‘0980’ until 2020 and today this superb M472 Touring has accumulated a little under 22,000 miles from new.
Reprinted below is Trofeo Car’s description:
Only original once…
M472 | C16 | 22,000 miles | 45-year single ownership
Chassis: #9113600980
Engine: #6630957/911/83
Conversion: 472 – Touring
Colour: 1313 – Bahia red (1 of 4)
Interior: 17 – Seats in leather; seat inlays in corduroy (1 of 13)
Equipment: 102 (heated rear window), 409 (sports seats), 423 (outside mirror, driver’s side), 439 (Porsche side lettering, black), 569 (collision bar, rear), 650 (electric sliding roof), 651 (electric window lifts
#980 represents an extraordinary opportunity for a Porsche collector to purchase one of the most original right hand drive Carrera RS 2.7s. It was in single ownership from 1975 to 2020, having covered approximately 7,500 miles during that time.
The condition is original and outstanding, the provenance exceptional.
Price: £875,000
Supplied new by AFN on 4th May 1973 to A.V. Georgiadis, chassis ‘9113600980’ was built to M472 Touring specification. This Carrera RS is 1 of 4 RHD UK Tourings produced in Bahia Red (1313) and 1 of 13 with sports seats in leather and inlays in corduroy (17). It was first registered as RLC 8L and later part exchanged at AFN by Mr Georgiadis, believed to be for a new 911 Turbo. #0980 was then purchased from AFN by John Dodsworth on 16th April 1975 with 15,440 miles completed and registered in the Isle of Man as 173 MAN. John completed a club airfield rally, finishing 3rd, in preparation for the 1975 Manx International Rally (now ‘Rally Isle of Man’), where he finished 7th overall and 1st in the team competition. The car was used in these events in completely standard trim (although a rear roll cage was installed and then removed) and was never used in competition again and has never been crashed.
Porsche presented the Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 on the 5th October at the 1972 Paris Motor Show, and it was the first 911 model to bear the ‘Carrera’ name. Whilst being developed for racing and rallying, it was a car that customers could use both for both everyday driving on the road and getting serious on the track.
Porsche’s plan was to build 500 units in order to homologate the 911 Carrera RS 2.7 for Group 4 Special GT cars. It became a road-approved vehicle for customers who also wanted to participate in racing events. By the end of November that year, all 500 vehicles had been sold and this success led the Stuttgart company to produce triple this number by July 1973. A total of 1,580 examples were built - the first 1,000 enabling the Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 for both Group 3 and Group 4 homologation. Porsche built 200 lightweight ‘Sport’ (optional M471 equipment package) versions of the car, a further 55 examples of the racing version (‘RSR’), 17 base vehicles (‘RSH’) and 1,308 ‘Touring’ versions (M472).
The interior of the ‘Sport’ version (M471) was all about weight reduction, with seats, carpets, clock, coat hooks and armrests all omissions. Upon request from the customer, two lightweight seat shells replaced the heavier sports seats. In comparison, the ‘Sport’ version weighed 115 kilograms less than the ‘Touring’, with a kerb weight of 960 kg. The base model set customers back 34,000 German Marks, with the Sport package (M471) priced at 700 German Marks and the Touring package (M472) priced at 2,500 German Marks. The chosen equipment package therefore defined the respective version of the 911 Carrera RS 2.7.
The car’s 2.7-litre flat-six fuel-injected engine played a key role in the Carrera RS 2.7 becoming the first production car to break the six-second mark set by the German trade journal ‘Auto, Motor und Sport’. The air-cooled flat-six produced a powerful 210 PS at 6,300 rpm and developed 255 Nm at 5,100 rpm, enabling the Sport version to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.8 seconds. It could reach a top speed of 245 km/h (Touring version 6.3 seconds, 240 km/h). The Carrera RS 2.7 became the ideal amalgamation between weight, performance, aerodynamics and handling.
The Carrera RS is also famous for its revolutionary rear spoiler. The ‘Ducktail’ was the first spoiler to be fitted to a production car. It was developed by engineers Hermann Burst and Tilman Brodbeck and stylist Rolf Wiener, with the aim of improving aerodynamics and retaining the formal closed body style of the 911. The then-unusual wing sent additional cooling air to the engine while keeping the car planted to the road and increasing the top speed by 4.5 km/h – all remarkably achieved without an increase in drag.
It was the first production car from Porsche to have different front and rear tyre sizes. Accounting for the heavier rear axle, Porsche added 42 mm of width to the rear near the wheel arches and fitted Fuchs forged 6 Jx15 wheels with 185/70 VR-15 tyres at the front and 7 Jx15’s with 215/60 VR-15 tyres at the rear to improve handling and maximise traction.
