Porsche 911 Carrera RS

Using the 911 S Coupé as a base to build on, Porsche’s competition department developed two homologated versions of the Carrera RS. The Sport model, also known as the “Lightweight” (option M471), was intended for competition use and would be largely stripped of its interior. The Touring version (M472) utlised some of the Lightweight’s features but was more refined for spirited-yet-comfortable road use. Many also left the factory with 911 S accoutrements, often including the inclusion of a sunroof, full carpeting, and an entertainment system; some also featured air conditioning.

Key differences came through significant weight-saving, and the fitment of a larger bore 2.7-litre version of the late-specification 2.4-litre 911 S engine. The revised engine was rated at 210 horsepower, packing almost 20 per cent more torque than its predecessor.

Thinner-gauge steel panels, a fibreglass engine cover and bumpers, and minimal creature comforts kept the track-focused RS Sport to just 960 kilograms, and the Touring version to only 1,075 kilograms. On relative terms, the Carrera RS 2.7 offers very impressive performance attributes, capable of sprinting from 0 to 60 in just 5.5 seconds and reaching a top speed of around 240 km/h—stellar figures even when compared to modern production cars.

Porsche set out with the intention of building just 500 examples of the model, but the customer order book was complete before the end of 1972. A second series of 500 were laid down, these being sold by the spring of 1973, so a third series was offered. Ultimately, a total of 1,580 cars were built of all variations, including 1,308 of the “M472” Touring version.

Completed at Zuffenhausen in December 1972, the example offered here is the 172nd of these first 500 “first series” Carrera RS 2.7 examples produced. Its accompanying Kardex sheet confirms that it was delivered new to Switzerland wearing the same Tangerine paintwork that it presents in today. Fortunately, the same can be said of its matching-numbers 2.7-litre Type 911/83 engine. This earlier, “first series” Carrera 2.7 chassis received a body shell manufactured from a lighter gauge sheet metal (0.80 millimetres), compared to the later-production series cars that were built using 0.88-millimetre thickness steel.

While little is known about its early life, this eminent Carrera RS is believed to have been registered in Switzerland since new. A previous 1987 Swiss registration on file notes that this Carrera RS then resided in Zürich, and a few years later it passed to a Porsche collector in nearby Thalwil. While with its previous owner, it was subjected to over CHF 34,000 of mechanical servicing at Porsche Centre Thalwil, which included the resurfacing and rehoning of its major engine components (block, heads, case), and well as an accompanying engine rebuild.

At some point during the interceding decades of Swiss ownership the car (and its Fuchs wheels) had been refinished in the period shade of Bahia Red, and it was this colour that Carrera RS 172 still wore when it entered into The Carrera Collection in September 2012.

As the 911 has endured through to present-day production, it is clear that there will always be a special place in Porsche history for this first competition-based homologation model. The Carrera RS, undoubtedly the most desirable model of air-cooled 911s, is nothing short of legendary.