1973 Porsche 911 RSR Coupe

In early 1972 Dr. Ernst Fuhrmann, Porsche's long-time head of Engineering, took over the day-to-day operations of Porsche AG as Ferry Porsche began to dial back his work load. It was Fuhrmann's long held belief that Porsche needed to change its focus from prototype race cars to the 911. His feeling was that Porsche needed to establish the 911 as a successful racer in its own right, thus attracting potential customers with a 'win on Sunday, sell on Monday' strategy. The 911, while successful in the hands of privateers since its introduction, benefited little from any dedicated factory development program.

Enter Norbert Singer, hired by Porsche in 1970 to work on the Turbo 917s. He was tasked by Fuhrmann to develop a true factory built 911 racer. Singer and his team began the 911 RSR project in the late spring of 1972. The car would have to be ready for the 1973 season.

The standard 911S body shell was put on a diet and the weight was reduced by 210 pounds to 1985 pounds. Singer's team removed all creature comforts from the car. They added front and rear spoilers, including the trademark 'ducktail' rear spoiler, 9-inch front and 10-inch rear wheels, ventilated brake rotors and the finned aluminum brake calipers from the 917. As engine displacement increased to 2806ccs, the 911 RSR was the first 911 to break the 300 horsepower barrier.

The 911 RSR's first race came at the 1973 24 Hour of Daytona. Because of a rules disagreement, the two cars entered by Brumos and Penske Racing were forced to run as Prototypes. As the race rolled on, the Matras, Ferraris, Lolas and Mirages all fell to the wayside. During the early morning hours the Penske car dropped out and the Brumos entry went on to capture the overall victory. Brumos and Peter Gregg went on to take both the IMSA Carmel GT and SCCA Trans-Am titles.

This car is part of the Martini two-car team that competed in Europe for the FIA World Championship of Makes. After the Brumos win at Daytona, the European 911 RSRs went on to finish 3rd in the World Championship which included a 4th place at Le Mans, again behind Prototypes from Matra and Ferrari and an emotional win in the 68th and last Targa Florio, the classic road race so prominently placed in Porsche history.
An updated version of the 911 RSR in the hands of Peter Gregg, equipped with the distinctive new 'Whaletail' rear spoiler and 330 HP, repeated as IMSA Camel GT Champion in 1974.

Source - Porsche