1967 Porsche 911R

This car is one of three prototype 911 R's built before the 'production run' of 20 cars at Karl Baur, the same shop that built the 904 fiberglass bodies.

Having replaced the long-standing and much evolved 356, the new 911 was destined for competition but if Porsche could themselves have predicted that the model would remain such a dominant force at the top flight of motorsport for over forty years, it would have surpassed their wildest dreams. Fairly instantly the 911 began to harvest victories both on the track and in the world of rallying with an enviable mixture of technical genius, raw speed and reliability. One of the pinnacles of the 911s evolution was undoubtedly the 911R which was born from their ultra talented experimental department in 1967; the super lightweight package mated to an out and out racing engine sourced from the 906 was a formidable package.

Prototypes began construction in the Spring of 1967 and it is widely known that four such examples were produced and labelled internally as R/1, R/2, R/3 and R/4 respectively with the intention being homologation approval for international motorsport. These first prototypes were all based around the standard 911 'O' series bodyshell and where possible fiberglass was employed to reduce weight - panels that utilized fiberglass were the doors, bumpers, trunk, rear deck lid, and even the front fenders. Further ensuring lightness, the side and rear windows were made from plexiglass and to accommodate wider wheels, the rear arches were slightly flared. As opposed to the magnesium crankcase of the 906 Carrera 6 engine, the 911R adopted an alloy crankcase similar to that of the standard production car, and power from the highly tuned engine was an incredible 210bhp. With the decision already made internally to attempt homologation of such a beast, it was decided that the 911R should cut its teeth in less discerning events that would allow such a car to enter as a prototype. On its first outing the 911R finished third behind two 910s and even beat a GT40 MKVI at Mugello in July 1967. Another triumph for the still unofficial 911R was at Monza in 1967 that same year where one of the prototypes ran faultlessly for six days setting an array of world records in the process.

Initially a batch of twenty cars was envisaged and due to the nature of this specific undertaking the construction of the bodies was outsourced to familiar coachbuilders Baur. Visually the only difference to the prototypes was that the gas cap was housed in a cut-out in the trunk and the oil filler cap was also exposed. With other minor alterations, Baur actually managed to add a handful of pounds to the slender factory prototypes and they weighed in at an astonishing 1,810 pounds. Built specially for the factory and favored privateers, all cars were finished in white unless the Baur factory was given advance notice of a particular color preference. Unfortunately demand predictions for the 911R did not equate to the necessary 500 units required for GT homologation therefore the 911R was without an application from the word go. Nonetheless a few select events were entered in both 1967 and 1968 and the 911R performed irritatingly well in every single one.

However, nearly two years after the 'production run' of the 911R had been completed, the Tour de France was rekindled in 1969 and entries permitted for prototypes. With the mixture of hillclimbs and track tests, the lightweight 911R was an ideal candidate and the Works entered a car for their factory driver Gerard Larousse which was to be co-driven by Maurice Gelin. As expected, the 911R was the class of the field and the French pairing duly added to the already swelling Porsche trophy cabinet. The following year, Larousse returned to defend his victory but was outclassed by a pair of spectacular prototypes from Matra. In the meantime the factory had toyed with four-cam engined 911Rs in various rallies but the high revving engines were hard on the drivers' concentration levels and their ancillary components.

Chassis 307670 was one of the four factory prototypes and was internally referred to as R/4; it was also this car that formed the basis for the production cars albeit being marginally lighter. On 12 May 1969 Porsche sold R/4 to the French importer Sonauto in Paris who in turn supplied the car via Grenoble concessionaire Ets Balas to a Mr. Victor Blanc and it was he who entered R/4 on the 'La Ronde Cevenole' Rally the following month. Mr. Blanc was unable to keep up the repayments thus the car was repossessed and due to be offered for sale by public auction on 15 October 1970, at which time it had just 2,343kms on the odometer. In a bizarre turn of events R/4 was stolen on the night before the sale and was not recovered until March 1971 at which time the conrods were found to be broken, the seats were removed, and the odometer then read 2,762kms. It was immediately returned to Grenoble and put into storage, and for twenty years it rested until being unearthed in January 1991. The car was swiftly repaired mechanically, cleaned and offered at auction in February 1991.

Finding residence soon after with UK-based collector Martin Konig, he had the car freshened up and repainted by Moto-Technique. Whilst competing on the Tour Auto in 1995 the engine sadly gave way thus a replacement to correct specification was installed before Konig sold the car to another private collector, and it was from this owner that the current vendor acquired the car.

Thanks largely to its extended hibernation, condition is delightfully original throughout and visually only the trunk appears different to how the car was found following the aforementioned re-paint. Displaying just 7,500kms on the odometer, this must be the least-travelled 911R extant and certainly the most unmolested. The opportunity to purchase a 911R is a seldom one at best and we are delighted to be offering this time-warp example with an intriguing past.

Source - Christies