Ultimate ST thread

[gtBen]

The ST is now owned by Swiss collector Marco Halter... who amazingly also bought Gib's tribute car. Marco is not just a collector... he races with a passion.

Thats cool and great news (at least to me)

[HughH]

A previously unknown factory built 1970 Gp4 ST has recently been discovered by a board member after it was put into storage in about 1981.

It seems to be a time capsule and it does not seem to have been “upgraded” or messed with to any great extent, probably because it has been in storage since then. It does need, and deserve, a full restoration however.

This car, 9110301230, was completed in March 1970 as a tangerine “wide body” ST. The build book records that it was built as a “930kg Rallye” ie one of a small number of 1970 and 71 ST’s constructed from a run of “lightweight” thin metal panels. Various publications put the number of such sets of lightweight bodies at about 30, many of which were used in the factory rally cars, but the actual number is unknown.

The Kardex shows the only options as: 102 Two-stage electrically heated & tinted rear window; 220 LSD; 420 Roll Bar; 428 rear tow-hook; 978 front and rear stone guards. However, it also has the distinctive handwritten notations in the top righthand corner signifying the engine had been “tuned and upgraded” by the competition area – a giveaway for factory built ST’s as well as handwritten notation in the warranty section saying it was for sporting purposes. It also shows that the first owner was well known German rally driver Horst Rack from Frankfurt who registered it as F-HR 899. This was not his first or last competition 911 as he has been competing with a 911S since 1968 and after using this car in 1970 and 71 he went onto other 911S’s and RS’s right through to the end of the 1970’s.

I am sure the new owner will make himself known when he feels it appropriate but he told me about it a couple of weeks ago and I have been trying to assist in finding the early history of the car. After posting he for some information on German rallies and airfield races at the time, a number of other board members have also been able to help find information. I will also leave it to the new owner to post any photos of the car in its current condition or similar information.

There is still a lot to confirm that this car was the car that Rack used in all the events he was in during 1970 and 1971. There are photos of it in some events that I have been able to dig up and they prove that the car was used at those events. However, Rack entered a number of events in those two years and it would be good to find photos of each one as confirmation.

This is the list of events that it did or probably competed in during that time (and before he started using his 1972 car F-AJ 911).

Competition History
The car was completed as a Gp4 car in March 1970.

The first event after that that Rack competed in was the Int. ADAC-Rallye Hessen 17.-19. April 1970. It is not clear if he used the car at this event or not.
22.-24. May 1970. XXXII. Int. Rallye Wiesbaden - Deutschland-Rallye: entered as a Gp4 car, and shown in entry papers as registration # F-HR 899, Horst Rack was 4^th overall. However, no photos of the car at this event have been found as yet.
28 May 1970 International Semperit Rallye. Car #4 entered as a Gp4 car result unknown

Photo Credit: Erwin Jelinek
Source Rallye Semperit information and photos: www.technischesmuseum.at

(Probably) 19 July 1970 Diepholz (SRP/GT) car # 175 (Diepholz airport track) Result: 5th in GT+2.0 (No photos yet when recorded as “probably”)
(Probably) 30 August 1970 Mainz-Finthen (GT+1.6) car #226 Result: 3^rd
(Probably) 5 September 1970 ADAC- Hessenfahrt – 12 Std. Schottenring. Entered as Gp 4 car over 2000ccm. 3^rd in class.
(Probably) 25-27 September Int. ADAC-Rallye Bavaria, München. Entered as Gp 4. Appears to be either DNF or out of the places.



1971 Appears to be converted to Gp3 narrow body for Monte Carlo Rally

January 23 – 30. Monte Carlo Rally. Entered as Group 3 (2195cc) car (departing Frankfurt) Car #55 results unknown


Source: The Revs Digital Library Photo Credit: Kurt Wörner

(Probably) 13 – 14 February 1971 46. ADAC-Winterfahrt Hessen 1971 entered as Series-GT Wagen (Gp3) result 1^st in class

(Probably) 23 March 1971 1971 Rallye Wiesbaden, Nurnberg- Wiesbaden. Entered as Special GT-Wagen (Gp4) car #8 5^th overall and 1^st in class
3 June 1971 International Semperit-Rallye: H. Rack and H. Köhler entered as Gp3 car #29


Photo Credit: Erwin Jelinek

(Probably) 11- 13 June 1971 International ADAC-Rallye Hessen entered as Gp4 result 4^th in class.
(Probably) 4 July 1971 4. Marburger ADAC-Automobilslalom. Result “unrated”

(Probably) 1 - 2nd October 1971 Int. Rallye München-Wien-Budapest Unclear if entered as Gp4 or Gp3 Result Overall Winner.

[928cs]

Congratulations to the new owner, and great work, Hugh, as usual.

[rower]

Wow! What a discovery. A dream.

[Fubawu]

This is awesome! What country was it found in?

Lastly seems odd to convert from wide to narrow body work. I see going the other way?

[BOYER73S]

You have been busy Hugh��

[HughH]

Lastly seems odd to convert from wide to narrow body work. I see going the other way?

I thought that also BUT I understand that it needed to be (or perhaps appear to be) Gp3 for 1971 The Monte Carlo rally. in reality I am not sure given some of the details of the entry documents that I have that it was ever back to Gp3 engine wise Maybe just appeared to be and entered as such in some events.

The quoted engine size varied from event to event and it seemed to be mostly entered in "special GT" category ie Gp4 but sometimes in mixed Gp3 and Gp4 category and sometimes - notably the Monte - as a Gp 3 car

This is the entry categories and engine size quoted where available (in date order)

Rallye Hessen Serien-GT-wagen over 2000cc
1970 Rallye Wiesbaden Gp4 Spezial-Grand-Tourisme-Wagen over 2000cc
Semperit rally Gp4 Spezial-Grand-Tourisme-Wagen over 1600 cc
Diepholz (SRP/GT) GT+2.0
Mainz-Finthen (GT+2.0) 2247cc shown against his entry
ADAC- Hessenfahrt Spezial-Grand-Tourisme-Wagen over 2000cc
Rally Bravaria Spezial-Grand-Tourisme-Wagen over 2000cc

1971 Monte Gp3 2195cc
Winter Rallye Hessen Serien-GT-wagen over 1600cc
Wiesbaden Spezial-Grand-Tourisme-Wagen over 2000cc
Semperit Gp3 over 1600cc
rallye Hessen Spezial-Grand-Tourisme-Wagen over 2000cc
Marburger only shown as over 2000cc
Munich-Vienna-Budapest entered in "Sierien and Spezial-Grand-Tourisme-Wagen" ie combined Gp3 and Gp4 over 1600cc but shown as 2200 cc

So there are a couple of possibilities including him gaming the system to look like a Gp3 car at the Monte or the possibility that there was more than one car used by Rack during this period hence why I have been looking for photos. However the photos I have show the same car at the Monte as a Gp 3 car and the Semperit soon after it was delivered as a wide body car.

Also given that it was mainly a rallye car it is debatable how much benefit a wide body gave (if at all) as he would normally be using narrower rear tires especially on gravel. Photos of wide body factory cars at the time look strange as they have narrow tires hidden under wide rear quarters

[jmz]

Is this a different one than the one Don Ahearn recently shared on instagram?

[rower]

It’s also confusing that in the later narrow body look it’s running S deco trim, bumpers, too? Could he have instead swapped road registrations from the S to the ST?

[HughH]

It’s also confusing that in the later barrow body look it’s running deco trim too? Could he have instead swapped road registrations from the S to the ST?

That is, in part why I am trying to find as many photos as possible. But one thing is clear the VIN 911 030 1230 is a genuine 1970 930kg "rallye" according to the production records and was sold to Horst Rack. The issue I am trying to sort out is which events he used it in and as a consequence of that which historic photos are of that car rather than some other car he may have been using. I am certain that the wide body look at the 1970 Semperit is how it would have looked like when it came off the production line.

He was known to co-drive other cars at the time, but I think that they all (or mostly) belonged to Hans-Joachim Walter like the #55 car below at the 1972 Monte Carlo WZ-HJ 33. I am making an assumption here that only cars with a F registration plate are likely to be Rack's cars.

However to argue against it being a swap, when he moved to a 72 car he did have different registration plates, F-AJ 911, pictured below

Also the photos of the car in earliest guise as well as in later narrow body guise and in current form have antenna on LHS and the 72, which is also narrow with trim, has it on RHS





Unfortunately I have not yet been able to find a photo of the 911S he had before 1970 to compare it with F-HR 899