Porsche – Carrera RS 2.7 (1973)

The legendary Mexican road race – Carrera-Panamericana – gave its name to a plethora of supremely sporty Porsche models. The name ‘Carrera’ first appeared in the mid-1950s on the 356 Carrera. Today, it is still used throughout the Porsche range for particularly sporting Porsche models. ‘Carrera’ is in fact the Spanish word for ‘race’. Carrera was then also used as the appellation for the new 911 GT launched at the beginning of the 1970s. This was intended as a homologation vehicle for the new motor-sport categories. Porsche decided to build an extremely lightweight car – the Carrera RS 2.7 – to serve as the basic model for racing versions. The exterior was defined by the signature rear spoiler integrated into the bodywork and the ‘Carrera’ lettering emblazoned on the doors. At least 500 identical production cars were required for Group 4, also known as the Grand Touring Class.

As many as 1,000 cars built within 12 months were needed for homologation in Group 3 series production Grand Touring cars. Initially, there were indeed some doubts as to whether such a spartan and sporty car weighing only 975 kg would be appealing to enough customers. As a result, Porsche offered to convert the cars for customers from the base models before they were sold and indeed only 17 cars remained in the basic configuration. The significantly lower weight was achieved with thin sheet metal, slim windows and no insulation. When the sports car was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in October 1972, this car quickly became a runaway success as all 500 units were sold by November. Ultimately, a total of 1,580 cars were built and from the 1,000th vehicle, the 911 Carrera RS was also homologated for Group 3. Packing 210 hp and a top speed of over 245 km/h (153 mph), this sportster was the fastest production car on German roads in 1973. The Carrera RS 2.7 being shown at this year’s Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este was completed in June 1973 and delivered in Viper Green – one of only two cars finished in this colour.