One to Buy: ex-Lord Hesketh 1974 Porsche 911 3.0 Carrera RS (SOLD)
In order to homologate a further uprated 911 RSR for the 1974 season, Porsche created the fabled 3.0 Carrera RS of which a mere 55 were constructed.
Based on the new-for-1974 model year G Body platform, the 3.0 Carrera RS came with an array of trick parts that made it arguably the ultimate seventies Porsche road car.
The bodywork, interior, suspension, brakes and engine all came in for significant attention while, thanks to an array of weight-saving measures, these cars typically tipped the scales at around 900kg.
Even though the more radical RSR was offered alongside, many 3.0 RS customers elected to use their cars for competition and the model quickly established an enviable record in racing, hillclimbing and even rallying.
Currently on offer with DK Engineering in Hertfordshire is one of the rare 3.0 Carrera Renn Sports that never embarked on a competition career.
Chassis 9114609099 was ordered new by Lord Alexander Hesketh and was one of just six examples completed in right-hand drive.
F1 team boss Hesketh configured the car in stunning Light Yellow paint with gold accents as a replacement for a 2.7 Carrera RS that James Hunt had commandeered after the 1973 Monaco Grand Prix.
Having resided in some of the best British collections since 1975, ‘9099’ has today covered around 40,000 miles and is offered in superb condition throughout.
Reprinted below is DK Engineering’s description for this most important 911 RS:
1 of Just 55 Road Cars
1 of Just 6 RHD Examples
Of the 55 3.0 Carrera RS, just 6 examples were produced in right-hand drive.
This example could claim to be the best known and most revered of them all.
It was ordered new by Lord Alexander Hesketh, proprietor of the eponymous Formula 1 team, for use by himself and his star driver, the late, great James Hunt. Delivered in light yellow (conveniently matching the famous Hesketh Racing teddy bear) with gold wheels and sidewinders, it was used by the pair to attend various Grand Prix during the 1974/75 seasons.
The current owner vividly remembers watching the arrival of Hunt with supermodel girlfriend, Susie Miller, in this very car at the 1975 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. A wonderful picture was printed in the Hesketh Team magazine of ‘Le Patron’ and James stopping at a handy chateau on their way to the French Grand Prix in 1974 – a week after the car was delivered to its, no doubt, excited new owner.
Lord Hesketh sold the car to Lord Bamford at the end of the 1975 season, where it formed part of his stupendous collection of cars for the next ten years. It has been in the care of very few long-term owners in the UK ever since and it is now offered from one of the world’s great car collections, where it has resided for the last ten years.
Presenting superbly, this matching numbers 3.0 RS is available to view at our showrooms outside London immediately, accompanied by its history file and original drivers supplement. The car has covered a mere 40,000 miles from new, and the engine has done less than 5000 miles since a full rebuild. The dyno sheet records that it produced 258 bhp at 6300 rpm – these 3 litre RS engines really were special, and the power quoted from them, ‘conservative’ to say the least, which is not an adjective that can be used to describe one of these great cars.
