Lot 212: 1975 Porsche 911 3.0-Litre Carrera RS Lightweight Coupé Recreation

Porsche revived the Carrera name for its luxuriously equipped, top-of-the-range 911 in 1973. Designated ‘Carrera RS’ (RennSport), the newcomer was intended as a limited edition product for Group 4 GT racing, a class that required a minimum of 500 built. However, the resulting demand for this fabulous car proved so great that the production run was later extended by 1,300-or-so units. Based on a lightened 911S platform, the Carrera RS featured revised suspension and wider rear wheels (beneath flared ’arches) for improved handling, while the 2.7-litre, fuel-injected, air-cooled six-cylinder engine’s 210bhp boosted top speed to around 150mph. Not merely a styling gimmick, the Carrera’s trademark ‘duck’s tail’ spoiler made a vital contribution to high-speed stability, a virtue of increasing importance as power outputs continued to rise.
Announced at the same time, the lightweight version was the out-and-out GT racer. Indeed, homologation demanded that the cars be built in this form; customers wishing to purchase a Carrera RS for the road having to specify the Touring package (order number ‘472’) which cost an extra DM 2,500 (£430) and offered the greater comfort of the 911S’s trimmed and upholstered interior. Weighing a mere 900kgs (dry) courtesy of thinner body panels and Spartan interior, the Carrera RS Lightweight raised the 911’s performance to new, even more exulted levels, immediately proving itself a winner in both rallies and circuit races.
‘The power and torque of this engine, and the wide rev-band, really do make this latest Porsche a shattering performer without the necessity of “doing a Vic Elford”,’ reckoned Motor Sport’s inimitable Denis Jenkinson, who appreciated also its well-sorted suspension. ‘The joy of such suspension is that you can ignore road surfaces, undulations, irregularities and so on, and put all your driving concentration into speed judgement and direction, and it is no wonder that Porsches excel in the Targa Florio or round the Nurburgring.’
Rare and highly sought after, original RS’s cost a small fortune, a state of affairs that has inspired many a Porsche enthusiast to create replicas of what was one of the defining sports cars of its era. This exciting, left-hand drive RS Lightweight re-creation started life as a 911SC and was converted to 3.0-litre Carrera RS specification in the late 1970s. The car has been used extensively in Germany as a tarmac-stage rally car with some success, winning a number of class awards. Purchased by the current owner and brought to the UK, it has been subject to a full rebuild carried out between 1996 and 1999, including engine to race specification, new roll cage, competition fuel tank, seats, tyres, etc. Described by the private vendor as ‘ race, rally and road ready,’ the Carrera competed in the Tour Britannia and Tour Auto events in 2007 and comes with FIA HTP papers, sundry restoration invoices, MoT to April 2009 and Swansea V5 registration document.