911 AT 60: THE IMPACT BUMPER YEARS

Building on success and steady evolution

- Kieron Fennelly

The 911 entered its second decade as an admired and familiar sports car. Dealers’ sales data showed that having purchased a 911, the buyer was very likely to replace it with another one. And fast though it was – Tony Dron’s 2.4S held its one-way maximum of 150mph over 4km – competitors were catching up.

However, in October 1972, Porsche retook the lead, as it were, with the launch of the Carrera 2.7 RS. Created at the behest of Ernst Fuhrmann, the 2.7 RS was designed to give Porsche a credible racer in Group 3. Based on the 2.4T, the lightest of the 911 range, the shell was lightened further with the use of thinner-gauge steel on upper body panels, thinner glass except for the windscreen, while the engine cover was made of glass fibre.

Inside, a distinctly stark interior was bereft of any electric assistance. Exactly how the RS was accoutred depended on whether you bought the RSH specification; the stark, pure race version homologated at 920kg, the ‘Lightweight’; or for eight per cent more, the Touring that offered rear seats and a modicum of comfort (and probably weighed nearer 1,000kg). Underneath a stiffer suspension were 911S anti-roll bars, Bilstein dampers and a novelty: wider rear (seven-inch) rims than the fronts (six-inch). However, what made the new RS 2.7 stand out even more than its generously flared rear arches was its ‘ducktail’ rear wing. Combined with the less-visible front spoiler, these eye-catching aerodynamic addenda were crucial in maintaining cornering and, above all, high-speed stability when the 911’s front could become worryingly light.