Ultimate ST thread

[HughH]

I think that there was more freedom in interpreting road rules for events such as the Targa Florio and the Acropolis rally than there is these days. Also in Spain i think the cars (illegally) used German Zoll plates for long after they were not allowed to so the cars using those were technically unregistered
However for some, especially 0550 it was legally registered in Finland and wore the license plate AAV 911 for almost all of its competition history and well after that
0495 had Stuttgart license plates while at the Acropolis - whether legally or not
It is correct that the factory documentation stated clearly they were not allowed to be road registered as they did not comply with the appropriate regulations but maybe that was more the Porsche lawyers making sure that the company was not liable if something happened while an owner was driving it on a road
Here in Australia there used to be an ex werks 908 short tail road registered and there is at least one 917 road registered in Europe and they certainly would not pass the test

[geneulm]

Targa Florio has always been a debate: is it a race or rally? That said group 4 spec (rules were the same for race and rally) was typically the factory playground for most rallies. Group 3 mostly privateer/field filler. With some true rallies even allowing prototypes (Corsica, tour France etc.). Entrance logs show 906, Matra, even a Ferrari 512! Of course the Targa Florio's winners were prototypes with group 4 making top 10. Bottom line, Porsche didn't set the rules; the organizing bodies did.

For tarmac rallies with good weather, rally-spec was pretty close to full "race spec" for the factories. For Porsche this meant as close to homologated weight as possible, twin plug high butterfly motors etc. for rallies where winning translated into selling cars.

"Street legal" was in the most marginal sense. Cars really only had to pass muster for transit stages that featured little/no law enforcement. There are stories where drivers were pulled over going way in excess of any posted speed limited ... only to be escorted to their destination by the police while clocking similar speeds. Even behind the iron curtain!

If one looked at the ford, opel, bmw, Alpine and other works efforts, you would see much more aggressive interpretations than Porsche. These companies always took it much more seriously.

[Leirbag]

Some cars didn't have a 2.4L badge, most of these cars did.

I don't really know why some vehicles had the 2.4 badge and others didn't, but I suspect it has something to do with homologation.



black grille with 2.4L badge : 0022, 0550, 0769, 0827, 0870, 0872, 0909, 0910, 0921, 0934, 0955, 0983, 0987, 1019, 1155, 1417, 1687

black grille without 2.4L badge : 0041, 0047, 0538, 0818, 0908?, 1195?

[_gonbau]

I apologize for being persistent on this matter, but the vehicles you mentioned, 0550 and 495, were built under the Z-programm and are not "pure" M491 vehicles. Both vehicles, I believe, were delivered on January 14th? Unlike the "pure" M491 vehicles, these two carry the much-discussed S/T inscription, which, in my view, indicates that these vehicles were suitable for rally and circuit use. This program (which combined M471+M491), in my opinion, was the strategy Porsche used to "legally" employ an M491 vehicle under rally or road conditions.
They developed this program specifically for the cars you mentioned, which bear the ST designation. I assume there are other vehicles you could cite that participated in rallies as pure M491 vehicles; those are the ones that, in this context, seem most relevant.

230 0495 at the 1972 Acropolis and other Greek and Turkish rallies in 1972
230 0538 arguably a track car but also at 1972 Targa Florio rally
230 0550 did some track events but mostly a rally car in Scandinavia - mostly gravel
230 0983 seems to have done hill climbs
230 1019 Tour of Spain, Rallye Bosch, Costa de Sol rally, el Ciudad de Oviedo etc
230 1195 Hill climbs
230 0769 E40 Zasada's factory owned car mostly rallies
230 0818 Targa Florio 1972 but more a track car
230 0870 Targa Florio 1972 but more a track car
230 0872 Hill Climbs and Targa Florio 1972

Additionally, in Spain, they used the "Zoll" scheme, allowing these cars to stay on the roads for several months, possibly even a year, which was obviously illegal. As they say, regulations weren't as strict back then. However, it's clear that with certain vehicles, such as the Swiss 1155 and the ones shown by Leirbag, there was an effort to include the rear 2.4L badge. I suppose each country had its own regulations, but internally within Porsche, where the use of an M491 vehicle on public roads had been explicitly prohibited, this differentiation stands out.
This is why I distinguish between Z-programm vehicles (those bearing the S/T inscription) and "pure" M491 vehicles. I believe this program was Porsche's way of enabling the 2.5L engine vehicle for road use.
pd:

[_gonbau]

Some cars didn't have a 2.4L badge, most of these cars did.

I don't really know why some vehicles had the 2.4 badge and others didn't, but I suspect it has something to do with homologation.



black grille with 2.4L badge : 0022, 0550, 0769, 0827, 0870, 0872, 0909, 0910, 0921, 0934, 0955, 0983, 0987, 1019, 1155, 1417, 1687

black grille without 2.4L badge : 0041, 0047, 0538, 0818, 0908?, 1195?

And 2300495?