1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS Touring

Engine No. 6630340
Transmission No. 780314
Production No. 1033646

In recent years, as Carrera RS 2.7 values have continued to escalate, especially among exceptionally original examples, it is perhaps easy to overlook Porsche's rationale for creating the model. Having built just over 20 examples of the 911 R, Porsche remained cautious about producing a road-going competition variant of the 911 in meaningful numbers to support the ambitions of its Customer Sport Department. It wasn't until the early 1970s that Porsche once again tried its hand at homologating a special GT racing variant of the 911 in any number with the FIA.

Determined not to repeat past missteps, Porsche approached the new Carrera RS model in the spring of 1972 with the clear objective of building enough cars to satisfy the FIA's homologation requirements while creating a 911 that customers would want to own. Until Porsche surpassed the thresholds for Group 4 (500) and, later, Group 3 (1,000), each RS 2.7 was first completed in stripped RSH (Homologation) form and taken to a weighing station to certify its minimum curb weight. It was then returned to the factory for final specification, with customers able to choose between the Sport (M471), built in just 200 examples and now commonly referred to as the “Lightweight,” and the more generously equipped Touring (M472). Porsche had a hit on its hands, and as orders poured in, production was extended to 1,580 cars.

As its serial number suggests, this 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7, chassis number 9113600312, was constructed within the first 500 cars as a “first series” M472 Touring homologated for Group 4 racing. As recorded on its Porsche Austria-issued Zertifikat, chassis 0312 was completed on New Year's Day 1973, well within the initial 500-car homologation run, and it was therefore built with the thinner 0.8 mm steel (vs. 0.88 mm for the standard 911) that reduced bodyshell weight by 9.5 kilograms. Additional first series lightweight components included a forged aluminum front axle sub-frame member along with additional chassis and suspension reinforcements. According to the seminal Carrera RS by Thomas Gruber and Georg Konradsheim, the RS was finished in popular Light Yellow and trimmed in Black leatherette with optional corduroy front Recaro sport seats, equipped with a limited-slip differential, and delivered through Porsche Gottfried Schultz in Ratingen-Lintorf, West Germany.

According to its original Fahrzeugbrief, its first owner was Mihai Vicas, who kept the car until 1975, when he sold it to Rudolf Jörling. Jörling later sold the car to Friedrich Winkelmann. Like many early Carrera RS 2.7s of the period, chassis 0312 was updated to 1974 RS 3.0 body specifications and received a color change to a shade of light blue metallic, work believed to have been completed c. 1975. Winkelmann had the car deregistered in 1983 and later sold it to Peter Eissner-Essenstein in 2007. Its previous owner acquired the first-series RS 2.7-still wearing its Essen (E-TV 2) number plates issued in 1975-from Eissner-Essenstein in 2012 and commenced a years-long, photo-documented restoration of the sought-after Light Yellow rennsport model guided with the support of Stefan Roitmayer.

Numerous pre-restoration photos show all the important numbers, including its trunk and aluminum tag chassis number stamps, its critically matching lower dashboard production number stamp, and the accompanying original yellow grease-crayon number located under the dash pad. Just as importantly, the car retained its matching 2.7-liter 911/83 flat-six and 915/08 five-speed transmission-magic words for any RS aficionado and a particularly valuable foundation for its subsequent restoration.

Over the next five years, while the mechanical components were removed, rebuilt, and restored, the lighter weight RS-specific unibody was taken down to bare metal and received the appropriate rust repairs that are almost a given when working with an unrestored RS produced before the advent of body galvanization in 1976. Following metal finishing and priming, the RS received a fresh coat of its originally specified Light Yellow. Once finished, the unibody was ready to receive all manner of restored components, much as it had on Porsche's custom assembly line in 1973! From the suspension and wheels to the interior upholstery, wiring harness, and gauges, each component was disassembled and restored before being reunited with the car. Many “new old stock” components were sourced as well to complete the restoration.

Finished in 2016 and resplendent in its original Light Yellow finish, Carrera RS 0312 presents a compelling list of “best-of” characteristics for those in search of a correct and thoroughly honest Carrera RS. It is one of 500 first-series examples famed for their lightweight construction. It remains a fully matching-numbers example, retaining its original body and chassis numbers along with its engine and transmission. With a fully documented ownership chain within Germany, it has received a complete photo-documented restoration guided by Roitmayer, and today, after years of storage, it is proudly offered by Broad Arrow Private Sales from its German consignor.

More than five decades after Porsche set out to build a 911 capable of satisfying the FIA's requirements while capturing the imagination of a sports car-mad world, Carrera 2.7 RS number 0312 is a particularly early expression of that ambitious undertaking and a wonderfully compelling example of the M472 Touring.