1973 Porsche 911 RSR Coupe

This car is a 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 2.8, the racing version of Porsche's most iconic road car, the Carrera RS 2.7. This chassis number 0705 was ordered from the factory by well-known privateer racer, Dr. David Helmick, who enjoyed significant success with Porsche 911s during the 1970s in the US IMSA racing series. For the car's first race at the 1973 Sebring 12 Hours, Helmick teamed up with Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood. Gregg and Haywood had just won the Daytona 24 Hours in a prototype RSR but lost their winning car when it was recalled to the factory for testing and publicity. Helmick's car was prepared by Gregg's Brumos Team and was upgraded with several trick features that they had run at Daytona. The #59 was never out of the top three when the 'hourlies' were published and took the lead for good on lap 86 (of 226). It was the beginning of a new era for Sebring, American national championship road racing and for Brumos Porsche of Jacksonville, the first Florida-based winners of the '36 Hours of Florida.'

The car was subsequently raced by Helmick in the IMSA Camel GT series during 1973 and 1974. By 1975, it had been gradually transformed into 3.0 RSR spec but was bought by the well-known Porsche collector, Dr. Bill Jackson in 1976, and preserved as it then was for the next 25 years. It was restored in 2001 by Gunnar racing and has been in its present ownership since 2004. The car is now in the same livery as it was at Sebring in 1973 and carries the famous 'number 59' synonymous with Peter Gregg and his Brumos team.