Porsche 911

The 24 Hours of Daytona marked the beginning of the 1969 season. During the race, Peter Gregg was involved in a severe crash which left his 911 badly damaged. That same weekend, Jack Atkinson, who had completed much of the race prep of Wilbur Pickett’s 911, was hired by Gregg to run his race shop and be the full-time crew chief. His first assignment was to have Gregg’s 911 competition ready for Sebring in two months. After a few hours with the car, Atkinson gave Gregg the bad news that the damage was too extensive to meet the Sebring deadline but recommended the Pickett 911 as a substitute. A deal was struck, and the pair became co-drivers. By the end of the 12-Hour race, the duo had run a nearly flawless race and walked away with a class victory and a victory in the TransAm division. After the conclusion of the race, Pickett and Gregg were called to the podium to receive their trophy. Gregg insisted that the trophy was his, but despite Pickett’s best arguments, Gregg took the Sebring Alitalia trophy and left for Jacksonville. From then on, the trophy resided at Brumos’s Jacksonville showroom.

Pickett sold the car in late 1969 to Ed Prution of Parma Heights, Ohio. He raced the car in SCCA events and met Dick Sundra at a race in Nelson Ledges. Sundra had totaled his Speedster the weekend prior at a race at Watkins Glen, so Prution invited Sundra to co-drive the 911. By the time the weekend was over, Sundra had purchased the 911 and brought it back to Pittsburgh. He raced the car over the next three years in various SCCA events before putting the car away in storage while he and his wife traveled. The 911 remained in storage for the next 35 years before Scott George reached out to Phil Bagley of Klub Sport Racing to inquire if he would be interested in a 2.0-liter 911 race car with good history. Less than an hour later, Bagley and Sundra had made a deal.

Once in his possession, Bagley performed a complete tub-up restoration on chassis 301172 for Jerry Peters. Peters drove the 911 in vintage racing events, including the HSR Sebring Historicsrace in 2013, and the Monterey Motorsports Reunion in 2012 and 2014. In 2015, the 911 once again changed hands, this time to Matthew Goetzinger. After taking delivery of the 911, Goetzinger had th engine rebuilt and participated in a number of historic racing events with the 911, including the HSR Classic 24 at Daytona, Rennsport Reunion V, and VI, the Monterey Historics in 2017 and 2019. At the 2019 Rennsport Reunion, Goetzinger consistently turned impressive lap times, with his best lap time being a 1:46.7- just 4 seconds off the fastest lap time in the Group 3 Eifel Trophy class and finished with 7th place overall behind the more powerful 2.5l 911s.

While chassis 301172 is a competent race car, it has been kept in exceptional physical and mechanical condition overall since its restoration. In addition to its track time, it has been displayed at the Amelia Island Concours and The Carmel-by-the-Sea Concours on the Ave where it was awarded second place in the Laguna Seca Porsche class. Included with the car are a set of Fuchs wheels that have been refinished by Harvey Weidman of Weidman’s Wheels and an OMP HTE Fiberglass racing seat.

With its excellent competition history, high-caliber restoration, and eligibility for numerous vintage racing events, chassis 301172 is a truly exciting short wheelbase 911 for any collector who would also enjoy reliving the 911s glory days of competition on many of the world’s most storied circuits.