Porsche celebrate the 50th anniversary of the venerable 911 this year. A considerable amount of the road car's appeal is the unequalled success of the competition versions. It nevertheless took four years after the first production car was introduced before the first factory developed 911 racing car appeared. Dubbed the 911 R, it was considerably lighter and featured a more powerful engine than the road going 911. Sadly, Porsche's sales department feared it could not shift the 500 examples required for homologation and the project was abandoned when only four prototypes and twenty production cars were constructed. As a result, the two dozen 911 Rs built were forced to run in the prototype class against purpose built racing cars. Regardless, the cars did take to the track and set a whole series of world records in a high speed run at Monza. In 1969, Gerard Larousse used one to score outright victories in the Tour de France and the Tour de Corse rallies.
Today, genuine Porsche 911 Rs are a very rare sight, so it was a true highlight of the Monterey car week that we saw three different examples including one of the prototypes and Larousse's Tour de France winning machine. They are pictured in this 27-shot gallery, which serves to illustrate a detailed article about the very first Porsche 911 works racer.

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1967 Porsche 911 R - Images, Specifications and Information