1973 model year Carrera RS as covered in PCA Porsche Panorama November 1972 one pager
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Not all info on the eventual Carrera RS specification/s had filtered across the pond by the copy deadline seemingly, although contrary to the comment the second series was already being announced in relevant RS sales markets, as evidenced in this exerpt from a British weekly about the Earl's Court London motor show held in mid October 1972. This was written in October 1972:
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Interesting snippet also in panorama about 71 and 72 sales proportion shift broken down by T/E/S/RS so this being 1972 is before the success of the RS/R in Daytona etc, etc was "exploited" by Porsche extending 911744 beyond the plans for a limited series of 500
Since RS is MY 73 the tally must be referring to subset actually produced (or maybe all ordered) of the 500 RS
in calendar 1972 to achieve the initial homologation requirement / timetable for the upcoming 1973 racing season.
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Shift to sportier models comparing 71 to 72 looks to be a trend by calendar 72 end datapoint. The initial limited homologation purposes RS examples represent a niche percentage until "jumping on the bandwagon" caused a rethink to capitalise on the interest even when the required homologation job orders were already safely in the bag.
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Regarding estimating how many were made in calendar 72, my old first edition "Technical Specification" booklet with content to May 73 (not the later slightly different shaped reprints also claiming to be edition 1) shows just over 300 RS vin to Dec 72 -- allowing for vin start at 911 360 0011, not the nominal 360 0001.
Extended into a second homologation series opportunistically for different group,racing due to unexpected sales success then again, arguably for commercial more so than Motorsport homologation reasons, to the third series with heavier chassis etc well after the initial motor racing homologation objective of the project for doing the the 500 was achieved with certification by FIA.
In this context, the factory produced Kundendienst-Information for the Carrera RS model makes interesting reading. A document that I understand was produced most years in that era for internal use to advise the Porsche network on the most notable changes that were featuring in any new model or any model refresh ahead of the full MY documents, MY parts books and MY service supplements etc being published.
Extract below from that RS modell 73 document clearly shows the chassis number range from 360 1001 upwards having a different "fahrzeuge" designation vs. earlier 370 xxxx range. A point that to me signposts the factory's thinking that once the RS homologation role was complete after around 1000 examples, the model would became much more akin to a series-production 2.7 litre car in the 911 range for some markets; standardising when possible a number of unique to RS components and converging with the way series model were ordered/ assembled (known tweaks for a few late examples such as material cases and rear suspension points notwithstanding)
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Maybe "Carrera RS cars for sale" is not the right thread for this post but this historical context does seem relevant to how for sale examples are viewed.
The original limited series of 500 as stated above, all had firm sales orders before mid October 1972 -- reportedly they'd sold out at the early October Paris Salon launch. Nearly 45 years' on this, thread seems to be most relevant place on this forum to post these old news clippings and documentation originating in 72/3. The wording in these references being from back in the day shed an interesting light on the RS model role and the evolution of the Porsche's thinking. Information contained in these snippets was written as events unfolded showing how these things and thinking changed -- not some dim recollection or post hoc rationalisation but evidence based on words written in-period. Useful context especially in how the 3 different series and the RS model variants are segmented and viewed by the classic car sales market today.
Steve
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Originally Posted by DOUGS73E
