Photos courtesy of Aaron Chung Photography

#9113600428 - the Porsche 911 2.7 Carrera RS we offer for sale

Delivered new to Porsche Cars Germany, Dussledorf, according the to the Porsche certificate of authenticity, #9113600428 was finished in the classic Grand Prix White with Blue wheels and scripting to M472 touring specification. The car was delivered in a real purist's lightweight version of the M472 touring specification, with just option code 409 - sports seats on both sides - together with option code 419 - retractable seat belts for the front seats.

A coveted first 500 car, this was one of the actual homologation models built to be inspected by the FIA to ensure the cars were at the correct homologated light weight, the later series of cars made after the first 500 instantly sold out, were made with thicker gauge metalwork panels with a commensurate increase in weight. 

We understand from a video made in 2020 by the last collector who owned the car that the 2nd European owner actively used the car in competition in the mid and late 1970’s and photographs exist to support this. We are currently in the process of trying to track this documentation down – but cannot substantiate this at this time.

Nevertheless, we can establish, that this RS was imported into the UK for its first UK registration - KCR 155 L - in April 1997 by none other than the late Jeremy Lloyd OBE. A famous actor and screenwriter whose residence at 40 Cadogan Gate, London, SW1, is adorned with a blue heritage plaque, Lloyd was behind the comedies "Are you being served?" and "'Allo, 'Allo!" and was equally known as the consort of beautiful actresses such as Joanna Lumley, Diana Rigg and Charlotte Rampling. 

His passion for cars was equally in good taste having owned various Rolls Royce, Lotus and other sports cars. Documents on file tell us he imported the RS and later that year sold it to Nicolas Ysenburg who kept the car for 3 years before selling it to Mark Thompson in early 2000.

In 2000 the car was exported to Europe and in 2007 the car was assigned FIA papers for historic events for Portuguese racer Fernando Espirito Santo and the car with used the Portuguese registration number CS 43 99. The papers were renewed and in 2009 the RS was sent to world renowned Swiss Competition Porsche Specialist, Marc De Siebenthal of Meca Components, for an extensive six figure restoration and preparation of the car to historic racing specification. 

Meca Components have restored some of the most significant RS and RSR models made and the restoration over a 2 year period is fully documented with an exhaustive breakdown of the work undertaken in the car's history file. The work amounted to a full rotisserie nut and bolt restoration and the bills accompanied on file suggest the work was undertaken without consideration to expense.

Fresh from restoration and universally admired, the car appeared at the 2012 Silverstone Auctions Spring sale fetching a strong at the time winning bid of £204,600 - a price reflecting the quality of the car, but also proving to be an astute purchase before the prices of proper matching number 2.7 RS models appreciated significantly. A video made for the sale in 10 years ago in 2012 can be viewed below:

The dealer Samuel Lawrence was the next UK registered keeper and he enjoyed using the RS as his personal car for several years. In 2014 he decided that to do justice to the quality of the car and it's rapidly increasing value, that it should be returned to it's exact as-delivered factory specification from new. Although the bodywork and engine were still in superb condition and a testament to the quality of the original Meca restoration, some of the event specific competition features fitted such as the roll cage, bonnet pins and lightweight competition sparse trim needed to be addressed.

With this in mind, he commissioned RS experts Autofarm to go through the car and bring it to as-new M472 specification. This work involved stripping out all the competition components and using NOS or period correct parts, in order to restore the trim and other minor parts to standard M472 configuration. If you are aiming for perfection you cannot approach this task in a half-hearted manner and needless to say, the extensive documentation and associated billing suggests this was no small task and the finished RS resulted in a definitive "as it left the factory" example. Towards the end of this exercise the billing for the Autofarm work was paid for by Fiskens and the car subsequently ended up being exported to the Far East.

The car actually ended up in the famed Jonathan Hui car collection in Hong Kong and features prominently in a video made on a select number of 5 cars in his collection which were provided a special driving experience. When you own Mclaren F1, Ferrari 250 SWB a number of other exotics like Pagani etc – it reflects well on this 2.7 RS that it was one of his favourite cars to drive! Video is linked from the page embedded below

After featuring in such a world class collection – it was no surprise to us that when #9113600428 was repatriated to the UK via DK Engineering, it was still in the excellent condition it had left the UK. Presented with such a reference example of an M472 RS Porsche, we bought the car into stock at the beginning of 2022.

The car is in superb condition as you might expect after the extensive work that has gone into its restoration and subsequent detailing to delivery spec and would be a wonderful driving companion to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this model in 2023 - for which a number of events are believed to be planned for.

We have owned and dealt with numerous 2.7 RS models over the years and can vouch for the fact that this example drives superbly, is correctly finished to the most minute details, needs nothing and is ready to provide the next lucky custodian with a thrilling unmatched pure analogue driving experience.

Faced with the intriguing prospect of potentially discovering more about the car’s period competition history – we believe this car presents a rare opportunity for the discerning collector.

Porsche 911 2.7 Carrera RS model history

Easily the most iconic of any Porsche RS models, the 2.7 RS was the genesis of the RS legend that 50 years later is as revered as ever. This model came about after Porsche Engineering Director Ernst Fuhrmann witnessed the defeat of the 911 models against homologation specials from Ford and BMW at a touring car event in the Spring of 1972 at Hockenheim. The cleverly homologated Capri and BMW coupe annihilated the rest of the field, with the Capri even lapping the 911 model. Fuhrmann was aghast at such a public humiliation for the 911 and asked his young engineer at the track, Wolfgang Berger, "why are we eating their dust?" 

Berger explained to his boss that both Ford and BMW had astutely interpreted the homologation rules to be eligible for the class and had built a limited production of specially adapted cars, based on their more mundane series production models to satisfy FIA eligibility. Fuhrmann immediately saw the light and asked Berger to get to work to produce a 911 which could compete again at the front of the field.

The story of the 911 RS's development is well documented but essentially addressed the following requirements for competition applications:
- Displacement - increasing engine power by enlarging the engine cubic capacity - made possible from Nicasil lining the bores - a practice derived from the Porsche 917
- Increasing tyre width - fitting flared arches which in turn led to the possibility of fitting wider tyres for more mechanical grip
- Weight - removing any unnecessary weight including producing lighter bodywork panels and thinner Glaverbel glass
- Aerodynamics - paying particular attention to aerodynamic efficiency with the first adoption of the now legendary ducktail spoiler on a 911

The development of this model was undertaken in a scarcely believable 3 months, in part due to Weber avoiding the traditional production engineering bureaucratic chain of command and enjoying direct contact with Director Fuhrmann who was highly motivated to re-assert Porsche's reputation on the track.
Less is more
When the marketing department heard of the car, they were up in arms, claiming their market research suggested such a volume of stripped out cars would be very hard to sell. They were placated in part by the message that the RS model "had to be built - not explicitly sold" - meaning that after the FIA inspection exercise, the cars could be fitted with trim and equipment which would make the cars more in line with their interpretation of customer demands. 

As it turned out, the marketing department got it spectacularly wrong and instantly the first 500 RS models were sold out. Ultimately 1580 examples of the 2.7 RS were made and once the first 500 cars were made - the remaining 1080 cars were built with heavier thicker panels.

One of the most successful competition cars of all time, the 911 RS fulfilled a demand for a vehicle that the marketing department did not know existed. Lighter, race-bred higher performance models always will find enthusiastic buyers who value class leading dynamic performance and engineering integrity.