Lot 421: Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7 RS

One of the most famous Porsches ever built, the 911 Carrera RS has come to be regarded as one of the top sports cars to emerge from the 1970's. It was designed with motor sport very much in mind: Porsche's engineers wanted a car that could be successfully used on the race track and the road. Few people could ever argue that they did not succeed in their aim, for the RS is an eminently useable car just as at home trickling through traffic as it is ploughing down the overtaking lane of the autobahn; yet when competing at Le Mans, Daytona and in the Targa Florio it was almost invincible, often winning outright against pure racing prototypes. The RS (for Rennsport) was based on the 911 model but used lightened bodywork and a revised 2.7 litre, fuel-injected version of the ubiquitous flat-six cylinder engine, the largest then used in a road-going Porsche. With a weight of around 950kg and an honest 210bhp on tap, the RS could sprint from standstill to 60mph in just over five seconds and achieve a genuine 158mph; it was one of the fastest production cars in the world. According to factory records, chassis 9113601530 was sold new in Germany, its specification including tangerine paintwork and the optional extras of a heated rear window, seat headrests, a rear fog light (for German delivered cars) and the rare sunroof. Repainted in Germany in the original Porsche RS colours of Grand Prix White with red Carrera script, it now has an RS engine, number 6630459, which was originally fitted to a sister RS car (chassis number 9113600460). This motorcar was exported to the Hayashi collection shortly after a comprehensive restoration and resided in Japan until it was sold in America via the Symbolic Motor Company, passing to well known historic racer Chuck Wegner to join his collection of competition Ferraris and Maseratis. He has owned this Porsche for several years, using it as his road car on many long distance trips which have demonstrated its scintillating performance and effortless power combined with total reliability. In Wegner's ownership, the car has been maintained by Motion Products West Inc, a well known Porsche specialist in California and indeed there is on file, a bill for inspection of the car prior to Wegner's purchase. Apart from required minor attention detailed, such as checking electrical components, adjusting the clutch and replacing the fuel injection pump seals etc, the $5,000 bill for this work is prefaced with the comment "Customer requests an overall inspection of the vehicle. We found the vehicle to be in exceptionally good condition". Presented in beautiful condition with the paintwork, chrome-work and black leather interior all in exceptional order, as are also the door trims and side pockets, this superb Carrera is supplied with a British V5 registration document and current road fund tax and MoT test certificate.