Porsche 911 Carrera RS

Louis Meznarie
Alias ‘Ptit Louis’ was born on 14 January 1930 in Saintry-sur-Seine, where he started out as a motorbike tuner, before becoming one of the leading specialists in the tuning of racing cars, particularly Porsches, entering his own Porsches in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and earning the nickname ‘le sorcier’! Born to a father and mother from the former Yugoslavia, he was attracted to mechanical games from an early age, tinkering with all sorts of machines in his early days. At the age of 13, he joined a repair shop and soon acquired a bicycle with an auxiliary motor.
From 1945 until 1948, he worked in a motorbike factory, MR (Mandille & Roux) on rue des Prairies in Paris, which used Sachs 2-stroke engines. Then Ydral!
In the early 1950s, he took up motocross with a single-cylinder NSU Max 250 cm3 OSL, where he met ‘Jojo’ Houel, Georges Monneret and Rémy Julienne, France’s future ‘Monsieur Cascade’, and Georges Diani, General De Gaulle’s future Garde du Corps, riding a Monet-Goyon with a Villiers engine. Louis prepared his first ‘Mobs’ and motorbikes. From 1959 to 1971, he became a car dealer for the German brand NSU.
In 1968, he opened a much larger workshop at Plessis-Chenet, near Corbeil in the commune of Le Coudray-Montceaux on the RN7, with the support of the Shell oil company, and quickly became one of Porsche’s leading tuners.
From 1971 to 1983, he was an official Porsche 911 tuner, with a series of class wins in the Le Mans 24 Hours, the French Rally Championship and the European Rally Championship.

AN EXCEPTIONAL, UNIQUE, AUTHENTIC CARRERA RS 2.7
History
– 22 March 1973, M472 “Touring” model rolled off the production line in the French version (with a 2.4 S-type front spoiler), one of the 161 RSs in “Ivory White” (paint code 1111), with the following catalogue options:
Recaro Sport seats (option No 409)
Self-locking differential (option No 220)

– Reconfigured by its first owner between 1975 and 1976 as a CARRERA 2.7 type G to follow the trend! A common operation at the time. At that time, electric windscreens were also added (catalogue option No 651 for the 2.7 RS), which were not included in the original options.
– Purchased by Mr Déboucher from its first owner in the late 1970s.
– 31 October 1982, removal of the windscreen and rear window to change the roof (black perforated imitation) and seat fabrics.
– 5 November 1982, complete paintwork and fitting of a rear spoiler by “Carrosserie Ducarme” in St Etienne.
– 27 July 1984, engine rebuild at 88,300 km, by “Forez Racing Services”, a well-known Porsche specialist in Montbrison, including: rectification of the top of the liners, replacement of the injection pump and intake butterfly pump, replacement of the connecting rod and line bushes, intermediate shaft, piston rings, valve guides and chain tensioners, engine seals, heat exchangers and clutch. Installation of a shortened, short-stroke gear lever with reverse gear lock. It appears that the speedometer was reset to 0 at this time.
– 6 December 1984 purchase by the current owner, thanks to a classified ad in “La Centrale des Particuliers”, 105,000 km advertised in the classified ad and shown on the invoice.
– 21 December 1984 check-up and minor servicing at Sonauto, Levallois. 3,330 km on the clock.
– 15 May 1985 First service invoice in a very long series, from Meznarie garage. 11,300 km on the clock, according to the invoice.
– 1 June 1986 Restoration of the bodywork and restoration to the 1973 RS configuration begins. The work will continue until July 1987 and will involve the following operations:
Complete dismantling of the vehicle and stripping to bare metal.
Sandblasting of the body on 15 April 1987 at SPIC in Ceton,
Complete “shooping” of the body (hot zinc plating) by STUDLER, a specialist in surface protection of aeronautical structural parts, at the end of March 1987.
Change of front wings, bonnet, front and rear masks.
Replacement or rework of corroded parts in the front bay, floorboards, front and rear wheel arches, windscreen and rear window bays, marble treatment,
replacement of the windscreen and “Recaro” trim, redone in leather and velour to match the original, and reinforcement of the front and rear suspension attachments, as on the 2.8 RSR.
On 25 May 1987, the final paintwork was completed in black. All these operations were carried out at “D Cabaret” in Nogent le Rotrou.

However, as an exception to the 2.7 RS standard, the headlamp surrounds, windscreen, rear window and front and rear windows were painted matt black, as on the 1974 G models, a factory option known as ‘Z Order’. This option had already been implemented as a ‘special order’, for RS chassis No: 1514 and 1589 for 2 customers and for 8 other cars intended for the Porsche family and factory executives.
Similarly, the rectangular rear-view mirrors painted in the same colour as the bodywork were replaced by a single round chrome mirror of the “Durant” type, used at the start of production in certain countries including England.
– 10 July 1987: Garage Louis Meznarie for completion of the F-type bodywork and some of the M. 471 interior fittings (thin carpets, light door trim, removal of rear seats).
Optimization of the suspension with a sporty approach and fitting of an anti-jam bar.
Replacement of the oil cooling coil with an SC-type radiator.
Brakes refurbished and overhauled.
Removal of one of the 2 batteries, installation of the battery in the additional heating compartment and creation of ducts to cool the brakes and the oil radiator.
Replacement of the steel fuel tank with a PVC model.
4-point harnesses replaced in-reel belts. 27,082 km on the clock.
– 21 July 1988 Garage L Meznarie: clutch disc and mechanism and flywheel bolts changed. 48,873 km on the clock.
– 20 December 1988: Garage Meznarie, complete refurbishment of gearbox (bearings, synchros, seals). 56,414 km on the clock.
– 25 October 1989 Garage Meznarie, replacement fuel pump. 71,668 km on the clock.
– 21 September 1993: Garage Meznarie 89,571 km on the clock, i.e. 177,871 km since new.
– New 2.8 single-ignition engine designed and built by “Louis Meznarie”, stamped “L M. 16″ on the new crankcase. Speedometer reset to 0 (details of preparation available).
All these operations are documented (invoices).
The car will be delivered with the original 2.7 engine air filter,Original brake calipers,
Original rear seats and seat belts, a set of additional fog lights, original rear suspension arm, 2.7 RS, Fuchs 7” wheels and original spare wheel and inflator.
As evidenced by the extensive file entrusted to us by its owner, we can retrace the many evolutionary stages of our RS, mile after mile. The owner’s objective has always been to optimise the car’s performance in a ‘Gran Turismo, Rally’ approach. In other words, a high-performance ‘tourer’ rather than a ‘racing car’, evolving over time thanks to Louis Meznarie’s work in the 3 areas that are the foundations of the RS concept at Porsche, using only Porsche-approved parts and modifications:
– Weight reduction
– Improved suspension and braking
– Increased power and torque

The car we are presenting today is the result of 40 years of passion, development and mileage. A true love story between the owner and his car, carried out at high speed.

PREPARATION DETAILS

To achieve our goal, we used not only the ‘Options Catalogues’, the ‘factory evolutions’ homologated in Gr 3 and 4 by the FIA for the RS and RSR, but also the unique know-how, racing experience, suggestions, and advice of the ‘Sorcier de l’Essonne’.
In the end, the result was a 2.7 RS Louis Meznarie, special and unique, but perfectly authentic, having benefited from the brand’s technical developments in its preparation, in keeping with Porsche’s policy of research into ‘mechanical excellence’, constantly integrating technical progress and competition achievements.
Increased engine power and torque
In 1995, ‘Louis’ was finally able to exercise his talents as an engine builder. The original engine had reached the end of its potential after 177,871 kilometres of loyal service. With the magnesium crankcase becoming porous and losing its rigidity, it was decided to replace the engine with a new, single-ignition 2.8-litre unit, retaining the original fuel injection and built to the specifications of the ‘sorcerer from Essonne’.

It was built from a latest-generation magnesium crankcase (type 901.101.102.7R), purchased from Auto Mechanika in the USA, with a new crankshaft obtained from Porsche as a standard exchange by Louis, new Malhe 2.8 RSR liners/pistons, Dilivar studs, a high-flow oil pump (type 1976) and hydraulic tensioners,
The 2.7 cylinder heads, ground at Bozon, were fitted with new valves, guides, springs and rocker arms. The flywheel was replaced by a lightweight RSR-type model, complete with a clutch disc and a lightweight sports mechanism. Finally, a new bevel gear and intermediate shaft were fitted.
As part of the basic ‘in-house’ preparation, the crankshaft was balanced, the flywheel fitted, the pistons matched to the exact gram, the connecting rods polished and matched, and the intake and exhaust passages polished and enlarged.
The engine is stamped on its LM 16 crankcase, to link it to the small series of engines signed ‘Meznarie’ because they were designed and built entirely by Louis, assisted by ‘Gilbert’, his faithful second-in-command at the time.

Finally, in 2003, the last ‘preparation’ devised by ‘Louis’, to enchant his engine a little more; replacing the 2.7 RS type camshafts with those of the SC RS 3 l, was implemented. Unfortunately, as ‘Gilbert’ had left him at the time, his health no longer allowed him to carry out work involving the removal and re-installation of the engine, so the operation was carried out at the ‘R Duriez’ workshop by Mr Duriez, who knew the RSRs well according to ‘Louis’.
On this occasion, the original cast-iron rocker arms were replaced by lighter 2.2 S steel rocker arms, which allow 7,500 revolutions instead of 7,200.
This 911 2.8L RS, which has passed through the good hands of ‘petit Louis’, is the ultimate culmination of what the 911 2.7L RS should have become, and is now waiting for you to ‘write the rest of its story!