Original RS Ducktail construction

[fryardds]

Would the owners of original Ducktail spoilers examine the constuction of their spoilers and comment on the material used in the brace that holds the closing latch. I have been convinced my spoiler is a replica because the construction of that piece is made of fiberglass. I looked at Frank Anea's car and that piece is metal.

Today I looked at RS #787 and his spoiler is constructed exactly like mine. Now I'm fairly confussed. Do we both have replicas or did Porsche make them like this originally also?

Here is shot of mine.



As a side note the RS #787 was delivered originally in Leaf Green, one of two. The other car burned up and this car was converted to lightweight specs. and repainted Grand Prix white with Blue in the 1980's

[69Sman]

Hi Brian, thanks for the opportunity to go to the garage...and admire my RS!

Mine is metal. Hey, what happened to Don's post?!?!?!? Anyway...

I just got my car back from the shop, and my digital camera is in for repair, so I have NOT forgotten the pics you want - just carless, cameraless, or both...currently, car here, no camera!

I can tell you that I had the RS corner balanced, and lowered the front 1/2" at the same time - NOW it REALLY sits NICE.

Hope the info helps.

[Rennman]

Greetings Brian,

I did some checking for you. I have four Ducktail spoilers. Two are on original 73 Carrera RSs, one is on an original 74 Carrera and one is a spare. Three of them have stamped sheetmetal. One is fiberglass. Which now makes me think I have only three original Ducktail spoilers!!

I think they should all be steel or alloy on the early ones. The glass is a replica in my opinion. The glass one I have looks so good I always thought it was real until I looked for you. Is the frame around yours metal or glass?

Best,

Don

P.S. I deleted my previous post because I needed to double check as I had some disbelief on which car it showed up on.

[Earl Green]

A friend of mine has an aluminun duck tail. Was it a factory option?

73S 2.7RS Spec Sporto
87 951 (Under Repair)

R Gruppe #259

[Rennman]

The early versions had their bases in aluminum, the later ones in steel.

Best,

Don

[fryardds]

Thanks Stacy, Don, and Earl for the info. Looks like we both have replica tails. I sure don't want to break the news to him about his car. Sure makes you wonder why and when the tails were switched.

[JCR]

There was a nice bright blue 74 Carrera for sale recently claimed very original. A friend of mine looked at it and noticed the ducktail was a repro. Owner claimed the original was stolen quite a while ago.

Sounds kinda fishey. Anyone know if they were they a hot theft item back in the day???

[fryardds]

Thanks George for showing your spoiler again. Certainly easy to see the construction of the AL Ducktails. Can the delaminated areas be repaired correctly?

Jared,
Thieft is the most likely thing. Neither my car or #787 show any evidence of a rear end collision that would have destroyed the original spoiler. Must have been a hot item to steal in the late 80's or so.

[69Sman]

ok, I"m gonna (kind of) hi-jack the thread, even tho the topic is STILL our beloved RS:

and the question is:

What kind of spare RIM came with, (is in) your car now? Mine has a correctly date stamped (4/73) 6.5" steel rim. I understand the Touring and Lightweight versions came with different rims, however, NONE seemed to have a 6.5" steel rim; 5.5" yes...

SO...what rim is correct for a series 3 Touring? For a Liteweight? Are they different for earlier cars????

Enquiring minds need to know...

[andyjboy]

Here's a 6x15" Fuchs spacesaver: