Celebrating 70 years of Porsche
Car company’s legendary 1973 911 Carrera RS 2.7 proves there’s magic in old cars
Zuffenhausen, Germany — Cars today are better than they’ve ever been. They’re safer, faster, and more reliable. Their tires are better and engines are far more efficient.
But there is magic in old cars — all rough and mechanical, just fuel and air and spark. I piloted one of the most magical of all, a 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 — the car that catapulted the 911 to cult status — through the sweeps and corners of Germany’s wine region.
My day’s drive, which also included a 1992 Carrera RS Coupe, a 2018 Carrera T, and the 700-horsepower 2018 GT2 RS (I put throttle to floor, and the only thing missing was stars turning to streaks in Star Wars hyperdrive) coincided with Porsche’s 70th anniversary celebrations. The company counts its history back to June 8, 1948, the day Ferdinand Porsche’s original 356 roadster was officially certified for production.
That car is still around but it was modified over the years, so one was recreated to the original design. It’s the centrepiece of a new Porsche Museum display that follows the brand through its seven decades, as well as some vehicles Porsche worked on before he went out on his own. These include a 1923 Austro-Daimler from his days there as a technical director, and an electric wagon from 1898 that’s considered his first project. He created its motor and differential, and it could drive for six hours at 25 km/h on its battery. Always the visionary, Ferdinand Porsche also created an experimental hybrid car in 1900.
Electricity is again part of the portfolio. Porsche sells plug-in hybrids and will soon launch a fully-electric sedan. The concept is the Mission E; the production name, Taycan, was announced at the anniversary event. Not quite what I might have chosen, but apparently it suggests “lively young horse” in Eurasian languages, in honour of the prancing pony on the company’s logo.
The museum is adjacent to the Zuffenhausen factory — which makes the 911, Boxster and Cayman — and the company is undertaking a €700-million project to add the Taycan’s production facilities. The factory is hemmed in on all sides by the city, and to make everything even more difficult, existing sports-car production isn’t stopping while the new buildings are wedged into various locations across the site. Taycan production is scheduled to begin late next year.
Electric cars weren’t completely unknown when the RS 2.7 was built, but any that did exist were strange little models that sold by the handful, if that. Like the rest of its con- temporaries, Porsche was all about petroleum and the best way to make cars go fast. As Ferry Porsche, Ferdinand’s son, famously said, “The last car ever built will be a sports car.” The company now seems to be hedging its bets on just what will propel it.
The original 356 and its evolution into the 356A, B, and C continued from 1948 until the last one went to a customer in May of 1966. But in 1963, the company had unveiled a sleek new model at the Frankfurt Motor Show. It was called the 901, but when Peugeot claimed it had already patented a three-digit model designation with a zero in the middle, Porsche changed it to 911. It went on sale as a 1965 model a year later.
The special 1973 model was named RS for Rennsport — German for “racing” — and was built so Porsche could enter competitions that required production models be built alongside the racers. The number in its name is for its 210-horsepower, 2.7-litre flat-six engine. After the required 500 were built, demand was so great that Porsche ultimately made a total of 1,590. Mine was number 1,548. I drove the more comfortable Touring, rather than the stripped-down Lightweight model that’s the true Holy Grail for collectors. Even so, online valuation guides suggest I was piloting $800,000-plus worth of quick German metal.
I’m far more familiar with antique American cars, with their sloppy steering and leisurely acceleration. The ’73 Porsche was the fastest German production car of its day, and the “duck tail” spoiler and its lightweight construction — just 1,075 kilograms for the Touring — defined a new era for the company. Mechanical fuel injection feeds the engine, and it responds with an incredible growl. The clutch is firm, and the fivespeed manual snicks precisely into each gear.
What impresses most is how modern the car feels, despite its age. The steering is lighter than I expected — I thought it would be a bear to swing around — and the engine is free-revving and torquey. Despite its racing-ready reason for being, it’s easy to drive and certainly turns heads on the highway. It’s easy to see why enthusiasts want one.
At the anniversary celebration, Porsche debuted the 911 Speedster Concept, a 500-hp roadster with styling cues meant to invoke Ferdinand Porsche’s very first 356. The company hints it could go into limited production next year and I expect it will.
Whether it’s powered by petroleum, electricity, or some energy source yet to be discovered, if the last car ever made is a sports car, I’m OK with that.