Page 1 of 1 Two decades in the making, Porsche's outright victories had come at a considerable monetary expense. So when the all-conquering 917 was banned at the end of 1971, the German manufacturer's competition department set about create a new 911-based racer. Dubbed the Carrera RSR, the new machine was campaigned by the works team but was also raced and, perhaps more importantly, bought by privateers in large numbers. Continuous development saw the RSR emerge in its definitive 3-litre form at the start of the 1974 season.
As per the regulations, the Carrera RSR 3.0 was built around a production 911 shell. The racer did feature considerably wider wheel arches, a full-width front spoiler, which also housed the oil-cooler and the now legendary 'whale-tail' rear wing. Porsche had homologated these components through the Carrera RS 2.7 and 3.0 road cars. For safety reasons and also adding to the structural rigidity was a full roll-cage constructed from aluminium tubing. The most significant change was the adoption of coil springs for the RSR 3.0, instead of the torsion bars used on previous 911 versions.
Mounted underneath the sizeable rear wing was the Type 911/75 flat six. Compared to the 2.8 litre version used in 1973, the bigger engine featured a larger bore and a sturdier aluminium instead of magnesium crankcase to cope with the additional forces. Equipped with twin-spark ignition, the 3-litre engine produced around 330 bhp. High-lift camshafts were also made available during the 1974. These increased power to 345 bhp but also substantially affected the reliability and were also used for sprint races. Completing the drivetrain was a reinforced clutch and a five-speed gearbox.
By 1974, the Porsche works team was preoccupied with developing and racing a turbocharged version of the 911, which would ultimately develop into the 934 and 935, so campaigning the new Carrera RSR 3.0 was entrusted to privateers. Among the capable hands running the 911s were Kremer and Gelo in Europe and Brumos in the United States. The well-honed RSR swept all before and dominated the GT class on both sides of the Atlantic, scoring several outright victories on the way. In addition to the 60-odd RSR 3.0s built in Weissach, numerous customers updated their earlier 911s up to RSR spec.
Although production of the naturally aspirated 911 racer ceased in 1975, the RSRs were raced for many more years. Even when the more potent 934 and 935 came to the market, many privateers preferred to run the lightweight and much better handling Carrera RSR 3.0. Today the Carrera RS and Carrera RSR models rank among the most sought after of all Porsche 911 variants. Page 1 of 1