1972 Porsche 911S owner- John Meyer

[fg1227]

I was part of the group that thought sportos were a bad idea,until I owned and drove one,I WAS ABLE TO BUY THE 1973 NY AUTO SHOW SPECIAL ORDER CAR............. a'73 S metallic green with fulll creame leather including sport seats(phtos on my site).the car is drop dead beatiful.As far as driving goes it's great;for all those who knock a sport try one you'll like it;the only complaint is that it's a 4 speed;5 would have been great.How rare are '73 S's with sporto;my guess is that only 125 were made,just a guess.

[caproader]

To answer the "How many 73 S with sportomatics" question. My guess at the roughly 135 number comes from looking at the serial numbers associated with /63 engines. I am at the office now but I think the usual references give something on the order of 135 serial numbers for 73 S engines built for sportomatic (Engines with /63 stamped on the case). I figure that however many engines were produced, not all of them went into cars and that a couple were held back as spares. Therefore the number of completed chassis might be on the order of 130 or so. But that is only a guess. I plan to give this more research this evening.

Meantime, I see that #1 son has fullfilled his filial duties as the team's IT Director by posting pictures. No mater what he says, any achievement has to be a function of good genes. Anybody who says otherwise, doesn't have an outstanding kid.

The Capitalist Roader

[caproader]

Here's some information on total 1973 911 sportomatic S's:

According to Lothar Boschen and Jurgen Barth in "The Porsche Book", 1978 edition, page 134, the serial numbers for the 911/63 engines were 6339001 through 6339136. These numbers would suggest 136 engines. As you might expect, Boschen/Barth says that these engines were mated to the 925/01 transmission.

Now from the wild speculation and conjecture department: If 136 engines were built, then maybe 130 bodies/completed cars were assembled, leaving 6 engines as spares. If roughly 40% of production came to America, then 52 cars hit our shores. If just one sportomatic a year was converted somewhere in the States to a 5 speed, that leaves maybe 20-25 original, stock sportomatic S's. So if some one can hazard a guess as to how many have crashed, rusted away or been parted out, I'd say that might leave maybe dozen left. Perhaps it's time to start a registry.

BTW, my engine serial number is 6639123 so if some puscillanimous, nefarious, low life, bed wetting, commie pinko (and might I add non-dues paying lurker) wimp is thinking about faking a 73S sportomatic engine, if you have even half a brain, Don't use my engine number!

Now that I have vented, a pleasant good evening to all.

John, proud member #322

[fg1227]

my '73 S targa sporto serial #9113310374;del date 12/1/72;engine #6339074;transmission#632063;paint color mettallic green# 8310;interior special color to sample(creme leather);options:us equipment,sport seats-drivers and passengers,white fog lights,dunlop tires.ac.green tinted glass,sporto

[Porsche]

Why am I so keen? I own a RHD Sporto '68 L (reckoned by the factory to be the earliest RHD Sporto)

Hi, I've got a factory numbers matching RHD sporto, and my car was born on 21 December 1967, which makes my Sporto fairly early too. What year was your car build?

1968 911 Sportomatic production numbers:
Model...............Type...Engine Serial..........Trans...DIN-hp...Produced
911/911L US 2.0.901/17.3380001-3380464.....906/00 Carb.130hp..464
911/911L 2.0.....901/07.3180001-3180347.....905/00 Carb.130hp..347
911T 2.0...........901/13.2180001-2180218??...905/01 Carb.110hp..???
911S 2.0............901/08.4180001-4180227.....905/01 Carb.160hp..227

[pmjt]

Guys,

I'm not sure how the sporto would compare to a 5 speed S.

Never driven a LWB Sporto - but I have a '66 S with 901 five speed shifter and a '67 L Sporto - I've taken Porsche nut friends out in the Sporto and they couldn't believe how quick it was - you have to wait to wind her up - but when she's going they're very quick through the corners.

To tour with - from the UK back to the factory and then home - the Sporto was a joy to drive.

P

[Porsche]

pmjt, what was your L build date?

[pmjt]

pmjt, what was your L build date?

Chassis 11810056, engine 3180026 - build date 4.9.67 - registered as AFN's press car (and featured in several press reports of the Sporto of the period) on 28.09.1967. Kept by AFN (Porsche concessionaire in the UK) until sold to Mr. Les Horrocks on 24.03.72 - who had her until I became her custodian on 19.09.99 - she's covered just over 28,000 since birth

[Porsche]

Awesome. Yup, you definitely beat the production of my car by 3 months. Sporto's are meant to have started production in 1968, so yours is definitely one of the first if not the first.

[hgo]

I also own a 1973 2.4S coupé matching number sportomatic(nr.1254).
I changed it last year for a correct 5 speed manual which I prefer.
But I kept all the sporto parts
In my opinion the manual is (feels) faster.

regards