RM|Sotheby's Monterey Auction, August 13-14, 2021
1968 Porsche 2.0L 911R
VIN: 11899006 / 11899006R
Engine: 5080005
Trans: -
Color: Light Ivory/Black
Mileage: 40,722 km (indicated)
Auction Estimate: -
Sold for: US$3,360,000
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Auction Description:
- The most sought-after and thrilling 911 variant; the lightest production-based Porsche ever built
- One of just 20 serially built 911 “R” lightweights
- Raced and rallied extensively in-period; presented in its 1967 Tour de Corse livery
- Retains rare, numbers-matching magnesium-cased engine
- Restored by marque experts with careful attention to authenticity and detail, using NOS parts throughout; accompanied by Kardex copy
A GENUINE FACTORY LIGHTWEIGHT WITH RACING PROVENANCE
This fine example,11899006R, left the factory on 26 October 1967, bound for Porsche Sonauto France in Paris, and thence to its first owner, Fernand Schigler. Schigler was already an accomplished rallyist, competing in Renaults and Peugeots with some success. Just four days after licensing his new Porsche on 30 October 1967, Schigler had installed a quartet of driving lamps and entered the 1967 Tour de Corse as No. 96 with Gérard Couzian as his co-driver. Schigler also entered the Criterium des Cevennes. In 1968, Schigler entered five rallies: the Lyon-Charbonnières–Stuttgart Solitude, the Ballon d’Alsace, the Course de Côte de Fribourg, the Rally Lorraine—where he placed fourth overall—and the Course de Côte de Vuillafans.
In January of 1969, Schigler sold his 911 R to Michel Martinach, who ran the Rallye Route du Nord. At the Rallye de Rouen, Martinache damaged the car in practice. Martinach then appears to have sold the engine and transmission to Gerard Darton Merlin, a.k.a. “Gedehem,” as spares for two other 911 Rs that Merlin owned. The chassis was sold to Marcel Balsa of Paris, who rebuilt it and installed a 2.3-liter ST engine. Around 1971, Balsa sold the car to Thierry Sabine, who used it for rally reconnaissance. Around 1980, Sabine, later to achieve fame as founder of the Paris-Dakar Rally, sold 006R to Bertrand Lenoir of Paris, who installed a 2.0 engine from a 911 T.
A METICULOUS AND AUTHENTIC RESTORATION
In the mid-1980s, 006’s life began to change when it was acquired by a Mr. Noirot of La Châtre, who promptly disassembled the car and began a restoration. In mid-course, as in so many such instances, the uncompleted project was sold in 2002 to a European collector. The restoration continued intermittently until 2006, when the unfinished car was placed into storage. In 2014, it was discovered by Belgian Porsche lightweight restorer and dealer Kobus Cantraine.
Cantraine purchased the project after testing the trunk floor and lower dashboard sheet metal with a magnetic resonance scanner to ensure that the metal was original, and that the chassis number stamps un-tampered with. In late 2015, Cantraine, assisted by some of the best Porsche specialists in Belgium, completed the restoration, installing a factory original half roll-cage and a Monza three-spoke leather and alloy steering wheel. The car’s correct factory 10,000-rpm racing tach and 911 R-specific ignition kill switches and fuel reserve lights remain. A pair of NOS Heuer Monte Carlo stopwatches was fitted onto the dashboard.
Finally, the car was finished in its correct 1967 Tour de Corse livery. The original No. 97 hood sticker from the Elford/Stone car was borrowed from a collector of Tour de Corse memorabilia and meticulously recreated by a graphic designer incorporating Schigler’s No. 96. Also duplicated were the “Rally des 10.000 Virages” door stickers used on cars in the 1967 Tour de Corse. In fanatical attention to detail, the reproduction number on the driver’s door was also attached with black tape, with the lower strip misaligned, as it appears in period photos. While NOS parts were used during the restoration when possible and as-needed, the original plastic windows, yellowed by age but impossible to reproduce to a suitable degree of authenticity, remained in place.
The original matching-numbers 901/22 magnesium-cased engine, number 508005, had also been well cared-for after its 1969 sale. Merlin kept the engine until 1973, when it passed to well-known Porsche racing team owner and driver Raymond Touroul in Paris. Next, a very private Porsche collector of Compiegne, France owned this engine until mid-2015, when Cantraine purchased it for reunification with its original chassis. This engine, with its correct magnesium intake manifolds and chain covers, dual ignition, and Weber 46IDA3 carburetors, was fully rebuilt by Gustav Niche in Stuttgart, and reportedly dynoed at 216 brake horsepower at 7,650 rpm. The driving experience is unique; the power-to-weight ratio is something that cannot be compared to any other 911.
Today, 911 Rs are the most highly sought-after 911 variant and the pinnacle of many important Porsche collections, rarely changing hands. Making this exquisitely detailed example even more desirable, it is one of very few still fitted with its numbers-matching engine. Comprehensively restored by marque and model experts, it is supplied with a large folio of period rallying photographs and documentation, and it is eligible for many of the most important rallies around the world.
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