A most interesting, extremely rare Porsche has come up for sale on the Classic Driver car database. Only 35 examples of the 1968 911 T/R were built and this is one of just three that came with right-hand drive. All 35 were pure competition cars, based on the factory’s 911 R model and prepared for sale to private entrants looking to race or rally 911s in the late 1960s.
Offered for sale now through Taylor & Crawley in London’s West End, the opportunity to acquire this early 911 race car, chassis number 11820884, is especially attractive because of its superb history. Owned and raced by a galaxy of famous names in 1968 to 1971, it competed in major International sports car races, including the Targa Florio, the Nürburgring 1000Km and the Le Mans 24Hrs. In its first season of competition, it also won the Springbok Championship, held in South Africa and what was then Rhodesia.
Porsche homologated the relatively modest 911 T road car in order to achieve the lowest possible weight for this competition model. Many parts from the experimental 911 R were built into the subsequent production 911 T/R, and the exact specification of each individual car was then agreed with customers.
Chassis 11820884 was ordered through the British importers, AFN Ltd in Isleworth, in November 1967 by Patrick ‘Paddy’ McNally and Charles ‘Luke’ Lucas. As a pure racing machine, it was not then registered for the road. It was delivered from the factory with the Rallye-kit engine, a modified version of the 911S engine of the day, and was naturally fully equipped for competition, including a roll-cage, limited-slip differential and 100-litre fuel tank.
Having ordered the car specifically to compete in the Springbok series, McNally then briefed the well-known Porsche engineer, Chris Maltin, to strip the engine and rebuild it to full-race 906 specification, giving 230bhp. Before shipping it to South Africa, the car was entrusted to Luke, then a leading Formula 3 driver, for two trial-run races in England, starting in August at the Oulton Park Gold Cup meeting in which Luke finished 6th overall.
Following this satisfactory shakedown, Paddy McNally and Digby Martland then shared the Springbok series driving in November to January. Subsequent owners and/or drivers included Paul Vestey, Peter Sadler, Alain de Cadenet, Chris Craft, David Weir, Mike Ogier, Sir Anthony Bamford, John Chatham, Mike Coombe and Willy Tucket. The history is impeccable.
Freshly restored by leading expert in historic Porsche cars, Andy Prill of Maxted-Page and Prill, 11820884 must be a passport to competitive entries in a wide range of top historic race meetings around the world today, with guaranteed acceptance by eager race organisers surely a mere formality.
For further information, call +44 (0)20 7823 2599, email [email protected], or visit www.taylorandcrawley.com. You can also see all of Taylor & Crawley's cars for sale in the Classic Driver car database.
Text: Classic Driver
Photos: Taylor & Crawley
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