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In the days when 930s were a tad bit more affordable than they’ve become in recent years, it wasn’t uncommon to see blown-engine examples be turned into track creations. It makes a fair amount of sense – with upgrades brakes and wider flares, the Turbo model was a natural born track car. So with that in mind, we have two very different routes that seemingly similar cars could take; both based upon Turbo models, which is your track-flavored style? First we’ll look at the 3.6 flat-6 RSR-styled PCA racer:
One of my favorite cars from last year wasn’t necessarily everyone else’s favorite; but that’s what makes this hobby interesting to me – that we don’t all like the same things. Truth be told, I prefer the more conventional RSR cars, but this 1971 911 RSR “Mary Stuart” Martini inspired car is pretty spectacular in its individuality. It’s floated around a few sites and is now up on Ebay with a “Buy It Now” price $30,000 less than last fall when I originally wrote it up. To be honest, it’s still priced high in my mind, but if you like the look and want a turn-key race car that will be sure to be fast and test your skills, this RSR tribute is a good option:
The below post originally appeared on our site September 9, 2013:
I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I think Martini Racing colors are just awesome. Some people insist everything looks better in “Gulf Blue”, but for me, it’s those Martini stripes that made some of the best looking race cars (and in a very few cases, even improved road cars). Case in point is today’s example; perhaps one of the strangest downforce attempts of the 1970s on a Porsche – the Mary Stuart tailed Martini Racing RSR. While a neat design in some ways, it certainly looks odd from other angles. Today’s 1971 911 is a recreation of the original, but you can’t deny that it looks fantastic in the proper Martini Racing colors of the 1973 RSR:
The Porsche 911 is a versatile vehicle when it comes to motorsport. Rallying, LeMans, even the International Race of Champions employed the venerable rear-engined sports car in competition. This 1975 911 3.0 RSR is a tribute to a 911 campaigned by famous Porsche mechanic, dealer and racer Vasek Polak. It was Polak who, in 1959, opened the first Porsche only dealership in the United States. That RSR was campaigned successfully in IMSA in 1975 and would be raced until 1981, racking up more victories along the way. This 911 3.0 RSR is a recreation of that impressive machine, on offer in Southern California.
The 1970s Porsche 911 Carrera RSR are without a doubt one of my favorite race cars. Stretching the limits of that rear-engine design, Porsche employed both monstrous rear tires and aerodynamic aids to help tame the serious amount of grunt they were able to extract from the race prepared flat-6. And while I’m not alone in loving the RSR, not many were made leading to a fair amount of replicas of the various iterations. Some, like the last RSR replica we featured, take the iconic IROC cars as their inspiration, while others replicate more unique examples. But over the past few years backdating Carrera 3.2s and 964s has become popular, and it comes as no surprise to see today’s example – a 1984 Carrera 3.2 that’s been given the full-on RSR look – but unlike many other replicas, has remained streetable:
A little over a month ago, I wrote up one of the last air-cooled Porsche race cars to roll out of the factory – the mighty 993 RSR 3.8. Despite being a factory race car with lots of history, it didn’t manage to sell on Race-Cars.com and now has popped up on Ebay. I mentioned in the write up that you could replicate this car for much less than the asking price, though the value was in the factory build and the history. That value has gotten slightly worse since not selling, because the owner has raised the opening bid $30,000 to $295,000. It’s a strange tactic to take when your car doesn’t sell, but despite that the car is still really neat to peek at!
-Carter
