In the fall of 1966, then Porsche employee Rolf Wütherich, who would later serve as James Dean’s mechanic, compiled a report for Porsche management outlining the power-to-weight ratios necessary to make the 911 a highly competitive racecar. Wütherich calculated a power-to-weight ratio of 210 horsepower and 800 kilograms (~1,763 pounds), but given that the best 911 at the time, the 911 S, weighed approximately 1,030 kilograms (~2,271 pounds) with an engine producing just 160 horsepower, this would take some significant creativity to achieve. However, the potential payoff was huge: If Porsche could pull off the four-kilos-per-horsepower outlined by Wütherich, it stood to reason that the resulting car would dominate GT class events.
With the 911 S serving as the basis for the new racecar, work began quickly, and Zuffenhausen’s early racing director Ferdinand Piëch took on the project. Under Piëch’s supervision, four prototypes were constructed, after which Porsche had coachbuilder Karl Baur build another 20 examples in a numbered production series, chassis numbers 118990001R–118990020R.
For the 20 production examples, the 911’s steel unibody was retained, while all the movable panels (hood, doors, and engine cover) were replaced by fiberglass. The standard side and rear glass were replaced with plastic, new lightweight fiberglass front fenders were fitted, and special rear turn signal housings were created and fitted with small NSU and VW lamps. Deep Scheel racing seats and other special pieces from Porsche’s racing department replaced standard 911 S parts, and the interior was otherwise gutted. Just as importantly, the stock 160-horsepower 911 S engine was replaced with the 210-horsepower Type 901/22 flat-six racing engine from the 906. The Fuchs wheels were “Deep Sixes” in front, and “Seven Rs” in the rear, with the fenders widened to accommodate. Of the 20 production examples, 18 were finished in Light Ivory with minimalistic black lightweight interiors and black rocker stripes, and two examples were painted to customer order.
Porsche achieved their aggressive weight savings and performance goals; however, the success of the project was short-lived. Porsche attempted to homologate the new car as a variation of the 911 S, but the FIA refused to accept that claim as they deemed the 911 R was too far a departure from the 911 S to be deemed a true variant. To compete in the GT 2.0 class, Porsche would have to build 500 examples of the 911 R for homologation purposes, but Porsche’s market research indicated that this would not be a cost-effective proposition at that scale.
Hesitant to build 500 examples of the 911 R that might prove difficult to sell, and knowing the car would not be competitive in the prototype class, Porsche made the difficult decision to pull the plug on the project. The 20 production examples were sold off—and any lingering “what if” questions were quickly answered by the buyers who purchased, registered, and immediately began racing the 911 R. Porsche had built quite a potent, street-legal racecar indeed.
The 911 R has remained a celebrated and sought-after model within enthusiast circles and the racing community—so much so that Porsche revitalized the 911 R moniker with a limited-production modern interpretation of the legendary car for the 2016 model year.
CHASSIS NUMBER 11899006R
This Porsche 911 R, chassis number 11899006R, left the factory finished in Light Ivory over a black interior with Dunlop tires. According to the accompanying Kardex copy, it is one of the sought-after 20 “production” 911 Rs, with “Coupe 911 R” prominently displayed under the Sonderausführung/Sonderausstattung (Special Version/Special Equipment) section of the Kardex.
The car was delivered to the legendary Paris dealership Porsche Sonauto and purchased new by French racing driver Fernand Schligler on 26 October 1967. Schligler, who registered the car under the French plates “481 MD 25,” was already an accomplished rallyist, having competed in Renaults and Peugeots with some success. Just four days after licensing his new Porsche on 30 October 1967, Schligler had installed a quartet of driving lamps and entered the 1967 Tour de Corse, a multi-stage European Rally Championship event. Schligler would be joined by co-driver Gérard Couzian, with the 911 R donning #96. The team retired early from the event. Schligler also entered the Critérium des Cévennes alongside co-driver Jacques Larbot, with the car running as #128; Schligler and Larbot were retired early for traveling in the wrong direction. In 1968, Schligler entered five rallies: The Lyon-Charbonnières–Stuttgart Solitude as #150, the Ballon d’Alsace as #39, the Course de Côte de Fribourg as #160, the Rallye Lorraine as #154—where he, alongside co-driver Gilbert Janvre, placed 4th overall and 1st in class—and the Course de Côte de Vuillafans as car #109.
In January of 1969, Schligler sold his 911 R to Michel Martinache, who registered the car under French plates “784 EN 59.” Martinache ran the Rallye Route du Nord as car #5 alongside co-driver Michel Delannoy, but the team retired early after getting stuck in the snow. Martinache later entered the car in the Rallye de Rouen with car wearing #2. During practice at the Rally de Rouen the car was involved in an accident, leaving it unable to participate in the race. Following the accident, it is believed that Martinache sold the engine and gearbox to Gerard Darton Merlin as spares for the two other 911 Rs that he owned.
Later in 1969, Martinache sold the 911 R to Marcel Balsa of Paris, who would go on to rebuild the car and fit it with a 2.3-liter ST engine. Around 1971, Balsa sold the car to French racer Thierry Sabine, who would later go on to found the Paris–Dakar Rally in 1977. Sabine used the 911 R for rally reconnaissance before selling it around 1980 to Bertrand Lenoir of Paris, who installed a 2.0-liter engine from a 911 T.
In the mid-1980s, this 911 R was acquired by a Mr. Noirot of La Châtre, who began disassembling the car. The stalled project was later purchased on 7 July 2002 by a European collector who commissioned Scuderia Classica to work on the car. In 2006 the project was paused, and the car once again was put into storage.
In 2014, the 911 R was discovered by Belgian Porsche lightweight restorer and dealer Kobus Cantraine. After testing the trunk floor and lower dashboard sheet metal with a magnetic resonance scanner to ensure that the metal was original and that the chassis number stamps were un-tampered with, Cantraine purchased the 911 R on 27 April 2015. Cantraine would have Scuderia Classica reassemble the car before eventually shipping it to Belgium in August 2015, where M471 SPRL and August SA would go on to complete the reassembly. The once again roadworthy 911 R was then displayed at Techno Classica 2016 at Jan B. Lühn’s stand. It was later brokered by marque expert Prescott Kelly to a private collection in the United States.
As with many sports cars with period racing history, this example is determined to have had bodywork over the years, including some panel replacement. Further, the engine and gearbox are both replacement units. The replacement engine has been outfitted with 46-millimeter Weber carburetors with rain shields, dual-point ignition, Bosch blue coils, and ignition transistor boxes. The replacement gearbox is believed to be a later unit equipped with a limited-slip differential. It rides on Fuchs wheels wrapped in Avon radial tires.
The interior is equipped with Scheel seats, a half roll cage, no headliner, and wooden footrests drilled out for maximum weight saving. The dash features a 10,000-rpm tachometer, speedometer in kilometers, and a fiberglass-backed dashboard cover and knee padding bar. A Karmann Konnection reproduction Monza leather-wrapped steering wheel and two Heuer Monte-Carlo stopwatches mounted in the center of the dash complete the interior. Weight-saving measures are evident throughout, with leather strap window pulls and leather door limiting straps.
A predecessor to the 911 S/T and the Carrera RS, the 911 R laid the groundwork for future Porsche road-legal lightweight racecars, including the widely celebrated modern RS, GT3, and the 2016 911 R. This 1968 911 R, one of just 20 produced in period, is the compelling result of Porsche’s competition-driven engineering ethos pushed to its absolute limit.
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