RSR Turbo Prototype

[rick2]

This plaid interior is friggin da bomb. Just a thought but wouldn't the factory have come up with some other VIN # than using a S VIN? Why would the factory use a RHD. Did this thing tour the RHD countries? Looks over restored as well. But love the hell out of it!

Disclaimer: I am not questioning the validity of this car, just simply curious.

[HughH]

Rick
The car you have pictured (9113300157) started life as a 73 S but was used by the factory to create the mockup turbo for the 1973 paris motor show in september of 1973. At that stage, despite that fact that work on a 911 turbo engine had been underway since late 1972, the car was really a concept.
It was LHD when unveiled in Paris and also had a dummy wooden engine.
The body work was a preview of the IROC bodywork, later used on the 74 RS3.0.

This car did the rounds of all the major wrld motorshows in late 1973 and 1974.

the "real" launch of a production turbo (930) did not occur until Paris in October 1974 a year after this "concept" car was shown.

By that time it was sitting almost forgotten in a back corner of the factory in Germany after it had finished its world tour.

At about that time Alan Hamilton, then Porsche distributor for Australia and New Zealand (and close to the factory as the Hamilton family had been one of the first distributors of 356's outside germany) was wanting to buy a RSR3.0 to race in Australia. The order book had closed for this car but, as Hamilton was a valued racing client as well Australian distributor for Porsche, someone had the idea of putting a RSR engine (along with all the other goodies like 917 brakes that went with a full race spec RSR3.0) into the shell of the "paris show car" which was built originally to essentially RS / RSR bodywork specs.

At this stage the car was still LHD and was when Hamilton took delivery of it and raced it in Australia (only twice see pic) before it went on to a succession of private owners and club racing victories. During that stage it was converted by Porsche Cars Australia to RHD.

When i last saw it (a few years ago now) it was still running a full house RSR engine (you had to put oil in the fuel pump receptacle before starting it), it had open stacks and open exhausts as well as 917 brakes (and consequently no parking brake) AND was being driven on the roads as a full road registered cars like that

I remember being present late one night with the then owner just prior to the 50th anniversary celebrations here when he was getting it ready for one of the rallies associated with the celebrations by giving it a good old fashioned "tune up" and shakedown in that condition in inner city streets AMAZING (and amazing we did not have the cops around to see what all the noise was!)

It is a great piece of Porsche history and more importantly a FUN machine - I wish i could afford it I would buy it in a heartbeat.

[HughH]

a couple of more photos
sometime in last decade in Australia
paris show car 1973
racing as an RSR in about 1976

[obrut]

i've always been a big fan of that interior as well. so much so that i'm currently considering putting some tartan inserts into my new race car (to break up the all black and add a period look to the modern race seat).

i have 2 great memories of this car.

1. watching it start a rally stage before i did. it was spitting flames on the start line as the throttle was blipped... there was no wind that day and it left 2 huge smoke trails on the road as it left the line.

2. being stuck in a traffic jam after that day of competition - it was not a happy car... (i suspect it ate a set of plugs)

great car with, as hugh said, a great history.

[rick2]

Thanks for the history lesson. A very cool story. Hugh, the first picture you posted is a LHD. Was this car converted later? I love the early Turbo stripes as well.

[CamBiscuit]

Why not take the E up to Sydney and see what Rory will give you as a trade Hugh ???

Not sure how it would go as your daily driver though

More photos of it here - http://www.classicthrottleshop.com/cars.htm

I hope its still there in two weeks when i get down to Sydney...

[HughH]

Hugh, the first picture you posted is a LHD. Was this car converted later? I love the early Turbo stripes as well.

Rick

Yes as I posted it was LHD originally as an S, still LHD as the Paris show car, and despite what the website that has it for sale says, still LHD when rebuilt by the factory as a RSR. It did its first 2 races for Alan Hamilton (Oran park in Sydney and Hume Weir in New South Wales) in LHD form (those were the pics I posted with race #9. If you look closely all the pics except the most recent one are LHD).
It was converted to RHD by Porsche Cars Australia either just before or after it was sold into private hands.