VIN: the works Porsche 911 2.0 R chassis 306681S R2
History of chassis 306681S R2
Chassis 306681S (also known as R2) was the second of four 911 R prototypes, all of which were reserved for factory use. These four vehicles were subsequently followed by an additional run of 20 production cars, 15 of which were sold to customers.
R2 was painted red and registered S-YZ 29. Having served in a testing and development capacity, it was then selected to make the 911 R’s competition debut at the Mugello GP World Sportscar Championship race on July 23rd 1967.
R2 was allocated to Vic Elford and Gijs van Lennep. It formed part of a six-car works entry that also comprised a trio of Group 6 910s and a pair of Group 4 906s.
Like Autodelta, Porsche arrived several days before the event to practice. In addition to the Autodelta squad, chief opposition was expected from Scuderia Ferrari and Ford France.
At the end of lap one, the Flat 8-engined factory 910s of Udo Schutz and Jochen Neerpasch led Jo Schlesser’s Mk2 GT40. Lucien Bianchi’s Alfa Romeo T33/2 was fourth and Elford was fifth in the 911 R.
At the end of lap three, Elford handed over to van Lennep who continued to circulate at around the same pace.
Elford was back in R2 for the last two laps, at which time the 911 R was still in fifth position. However, on the final lap, the Koch / Glemser Carrera 6 and the Schlesser / Ligier GT40 stopped out on track. Elford crossed the line in third overall to win the two-litre Prototype class.
The 2.2-litre Flat 8-engined 910s of Schutz / Mitter and Neerpasch / Stommelen finished first and second to give Porsche a clean sweep of the podium.
R2 next appeared as part of a three-car team for the Coupes des Alpes on September 4th. Also present were two other non-R works 911s. R2 was entered for Vic Elford and his navigator, David Stone.
The rally departed Marseille late on Monday night. It headed up to the Alpe d’Huez and then looped back down to Menton.
Elford led the early stages, but then dropped behind the Alpines of Gerard Larrousse and Jean Vinatier when he suffered a puncture and lost three minutes on the section into Entrevaux.
On the only part of the route to run into Italy, Elford then suffered his second puncture and lost another three minutes.
At the end of the first leg, just 38 of the 80 starters were still in the rally. The Alpines of Larrousse and Vinatier were first and second. Despite his troubles, Elford was fifth.
The second leg of the rally was quite short and ran through the daylight hours of Wednesday. Unfortunately, Elford’s 911 R was the first to retire; the engine dropped a cam follower about 6km up the Col de Pennes which broke the camshaft on one cylinder bank.
R2’s last period event was also the final appearance for a 911 R in 1967: the Tour de Corse (November 4th to 6th). The all-tarmac Corsican event was regarded as the most difficult and demanding road rally of the season despite only covering around 650km (130km of which were special stages).
R2 was once again allocated to Vic Elford and David Stone. A 911 S Rally Kit engine was fitted for reasons of reliability.
The rally began at 6pm on Saturday evening and the competitors departed Ajaccio in heavy rain.
At the end of the first leg, Sandro Munari’s tricked out Lancia Fulvia led Elford by three seconds.
The rain continued unabated during the second leg, during which Munari demonstrated his superiority and extended Lancia’s lead. Elford just about clung onto his second place, despite pressure from the Lancia sister car of Pauli Toivonen.
Elford then found himself with a little breathing space when Toivonen had an off-road excursion and bent his steering as daylight approached. The Finn dropped two minutes, but the Lancia mechanics managed to repair the Fulvia before the third leg kicked off.
Elford set fastest time on the third leg and looked comfortable in second position.
However, during the fourth and final leg, he put on a charge in an attempt to catch Munari and left the road on the slippery descent to Evisa. Elford dropped nearly two-and-a-half minutes and was then docked a further 60 seconds with a road penalty at the St. Roch control.
This relegated the 911 R to third, 63 seconds behind Toivonen with just a short distance to go.
Elford managed to closed the gap when the Finn had to tackle the final stage without his auxiliary lights, but Toivonen ultimately finished three seconds clear to claim the runner’s up spot and give Lancia a one-two finish.
Chassis R2 was subsequently retired from competition duty.
It was retained by Porsche until 1978, at which point it was sold to California-based collector, Kerry Morse.
Notable History
Porsche System Engineering
23/07/1967 WSC Mugello GP (V. Elford / G. van Lennep) 3rd oa, 1st P2.0 class (#30)
04-09/09/1967 ERC Coupes des Alpes (V. Elford / D. Stone) DNF (#115)
04-06/11/1967 FRC Tour de Corse (V. Elford / D. Stone) 3rd oa, 3rd G4 class (#97)
1978 sold to Kerry Morse, California
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Porsche - https://www.porsche.com
