The real 73 RSR TF Winner - Porsche Factory Scam??

[Carl Bauer]

Here are some shots of the RSR's tail section. It looks like they refined it after the Targa.

Spa 1000km



Nuerburgring 1000km



Not sure about this one...

[letsrollbabe]

Here is a not-too-good picture of the Porsche Sport 73 page showing the Targa Florio winners.

Gib Bosworth
R Gruppe #18
Early S Reg #434

[pwd72s]

So, a "'73RS" on a '72 tub? Gawd, that car would be a find, indeed!

[Carl Bauer]

Found this in a mid-80's Christophorus last night. Did Porsche own 917-023 in the 80's or had it left their hands by then?

[Ernie W]

I noticed that the wind tunnel testing photo shows the rear side windows as production car type that pop open. The photo in Porsche Sport 73 shows car #107 with the window open, also production car pop out type.

Good work Gib

[Ernie W]

photo of car #107 with window open

[platas]

Jim if a can be of any help iam going to Stuttgart in two weeks, an plan to go to the museum, anything i need to look for there let me know, glady will. I am going to see a friend who ran the Monte race dep, back then.

[letsrollbabe]

Ernie:

This last picture makes it easy to identify with those rear flares and other 72 features that this is the same red 72 that ran at the Austria Ring in July 72 (#5) with the 2.8 L engine under the independent team, Strahle. I think there is a reasonable chance that this car was renumbered as 911 360 020.

Gib Bosworth
R Gruppe #18
Early S Reg #434

[HughH]

Gib /Ernie / Jim

I think you guys are doing great work with this thread.

I have been watching this thread with a great amount of interest and (I think) leaning a lot. As most here know when a company such as Porsche is conducting an international racing programme keeping track of which chassis are racing in which events is usually very secondary to trying to get the car to the event and win. There are well documented chassis number swaps on race cars such as 917's so the car that was available to race would match the wagenpass or customs documentation, especially if repairs were not completed quickly enough before the cars had to front up at the next event. It was easier to change the chasssis number instead of the paperwork.

Likewise there was nothing as useless as a just obselete race car. No-one was thinking of what we might be researching now when there was a tub or engine to be recycled into the latest version (and it still happens now).

There is no doubt in my mind that the picture of #107 is of a 72 shell, however Gib I am puzzled about why it could neccesarily be #20. I have in my database on RS's that #107 was chassis 9113600002 (ie #02 not #20) a recycled 2.5S race car and #20 was production #1031090 a genuine RS build and factory car R2. However I have not recorded the source of this info (the info on R2 is mainly from Starkey).

I agree that a lot of cars were recycled over time but from all I have seen R2 (#20) was a genuine build not a recycle. Of course I could be wrong on this as could the factory records even.

I always thought in the 73 targa that Leo Kinnunen drove R2 which was race #9 and he came in third and Steckkönig drove race #107 which was the 1972 chassis recycled as #02.

However from the pictures here I can easily believe that the chassis may have been the other way around, or even that there were TWO 72 cars at the targa as the colour photo also seems to clearly show a 72 car .

Given the accident damage to at least one car prior to the event and Jim's claim that 5 cars went there what is the possibility that another (unrecorded) 72 shell was substituted as race #9?

I did notice somewhere on one of the Targa sites that some drivers (Kinnunen?) were cross entered between #107 and #9. I can believe that if one or more of the cars were damaged that the team would do whatever was needed to get the best drivers a seat. I dont think however that there is any dispute that the winner was Muller and van Lennep in chassis #588 R6 with race #8.

I will be very interested to watch what comes of this thread and even more intersted to get a copy of any book that comes out of all of this - keep us posted on that Jim

[Chuck Miller]

Center spread Christophorus No. 107/ Oct. '73

Spa 1000km - May 6th '73
Muller/van Lennep

Started 11th finished 5th

Most likely in the same 3 liter RSR that will win the Targa Florio the next week