This car originally started out as a 1973 Porsche 911T finished in Light Yellow over a black leatherette interior. It’s now part way through a conversion to semi-Carrera 2.7 RS specification.
The rebuild project has stalled and it’s now being offered for sale out of Edinburgh, Scotland. All the major parts required to finish the car are accounted for including the body, engine, transmission, suspension, etc – though some smaller parts will still need to be bought.
Fast Facts – A Porsche 911 Project Car
- The 1973 version of the Porsche 911 would be the last to carry the original body design, before a redesign to incorporate new crash bumpers front and rear in 1974 that had been mandated by the US Department of Transport.
- Many collectors now seek out these earlier pre-impact bumper 911s and some go so far as to “back date” later cars with a series of front and rear body modifications to make them look like the earlier cars.
- One of the most iconic and influential 911s of all time was the 911 Carrera 2.7 RS, a high-performance homologation version of the model released in 1972. Many non-RS Porsches have now been converted to RS or semi-RS specification as a result.
- The project car you see here is a 1973 Porsche 911T, it’s been disassembled and a number of parts required for a semi-RS conversion have been added, including a 2.7 liter engine, genuine 1973 Carrera 2.7 RS rear quarter panels, uprated suspension and brakes, and more.
The Porsche 901 Becomes The 911
One of the most famous stories in European classic car lore is the tale of how the Porsche 911 got its name.
The car now comes with wider 2.7 RS rear quarter panels and a 2.7 liter engine with matching 915 5-speed manual transmission.
The car was originally intended to be called the Porsche 901, the internal model name that had been used for it at Porsche. It carried the 901 name and badging when it was shown to the world at the 1963 Frankfurt Motor Show.
This is when French automaker Peugeot took notice, and took umbrage at the name. You see Peugeot had exclusive rights in France to any car name with three numbers which included a “O” in the middle. This included models like the Peugeot 403 and 404 which were both in production at the time of the new Porsche’s release.
Rather than fight a legal battle or rename the 901s that were to be sold in France the decision was made to change the name. Germans being famously logical people they just changed the middle number from 0 to 1, resulting in the model name 911, which has now been in uninterrupted use for nearly 60 years.
The Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7
In 1972 the Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 was released. It was a new high-performance model that had been developed to homologate the car for racing. “RS” stands for Rennsport, German for “racing sport” and a good indication of the intentions Porsche had for the model.
The car certainly looks the part, but the process of finishing it of will now move into the hands of a new owner.
The air-cooled, flat-six engine was expanded from 2.4 liters out to 2.7 thanks to a bore x stroke of 90mm × 70.4mm and Bosch Mechanical fuel injection was added resulting in power output of 207 hp at 6,300 rpm and 188 lb ft of torque at 5,100 rpm.
The car also had uprated suspension, larger brakes, wider wheels and tires, and wider rear wings to accommodate them. Perhaps the most memorable addition was the “ducktail” rear spoiler which would become a Porsche trademark.
The 911 Carrera RS 2.7 was offered in two major versions, the more daily driver friendly RS Touring which weighed in at 1,075 kg (2,370 lbs), and in Sport Lightweight form with thinner glass and thinner steel panels which was approximately 100 kgs (220 lbs) lighter.
A pair of seats and some other interior parts are provided but other bits will need to be bought, providing the new owner with the chance to finish the car off to their own taste.
1,580 of the cars were made in total, comfortably surpassing the 500 that were required for homologation – the strong sales was also a good indication to Porsche that there was significant appetite for high-performance versions of the 911.
The Porsche 911 Project Car Shown Here
The car you see here started life as a 1973 Porsche 911T, it would have been classed as the base model 911 at the time it was bought. It produced 130 bhp in stock trim, notably less than the 165 bhp of the 911E and the 190 bhp of the 911S.
The 911T has become a popular target for upgrades over the years to bring performance up to the level of its fellow 911 stablemates, or even surpass them. This car was clearly intended to be one of these upgraded examples – the original 2.4 liter flat six has been replaced with a higher-performance 2.7 liter unit accompanied by a correct 5-speed manual transmission.
All of the glass is provided to finish the build with the exception of the windscreen, and the car is currently sitting on red 15 inch replica Fuchs alloy wheels.
The Porsche specialist R to RSR began the bodywork restoration several years ago, and the car now has genuine 1973 Carrera 2.7 RS rear quarter panels, new torsion bars, a quick steering rack, vented brake discs, matching calipers, and a number of other 2.7 RS-specification items.
The car is now being offered as a rolling shell with the majority of parts required to finish the restoration included, including major parts like the engine, transmission, bodyshell, suspension, brakes, seats, etc – though seller does note that several other items will be needed in order to complete the build.
If you’d like to read more about this unusual Porsche 911 project car or place a bid you can find the listing here on Collecting Cars. It’s being offered for sale out of Edinburgh in Scotland.
Images courtesy of Collecting Cars
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