ABOUT PORSCHE CARRERA 2.7 RS

The 911 Carrera RS 2.7 was first developed as a homologation special, with a limited number made to satisfy the demands of motor racing organisations to have road-legal versions of the race cars they approved for competition. At first, Porsche initially planned to build 500 examples in order to homologate the 911 Carrera RS 2.7 for Group 4 Special GT cars. It became a road-approved vehicle for customers who also wanted to compete in track events.

“It was to be a very light, fast sportscar,” says Peter Falk, then Head of Testing for series production cars at Porsche. Around 15 engineers developed the car from May 1972 onwards and were joined by production staff. How fast? When it was launched at the Paris Motor Show in October 1972, the 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Sport (a Touring version, which had a few more creature comforts than its stripped back sibling, would follow a little later) was the fastest German production car built to date. With an unladen weight of 960kg and 210PS, the RS 2.7 accelerated from 0-100km/h in 5.8 seconds and could hit 245km/h. Mind-blowing today – even more so if you consider that it celebrated its 50th birthday in 2022.

“Those were sensational figures in the early 1970s – and they still are,” says Andreas Preuninger, current Head of Porsche GT Cars, today. “An RS model made by Porsche is characterised by the most emotional relationship between the road and motorsport. This is the unfiltered driving experience that Porsche has represented for 50 years. The 911 Carrera RS 2.7 is a milestone in the Porsche sports car history and continues to shine today.”

So, what about that game-changing rear spoiler? When Porsche was developing the 911 Carrera RS 2.7 in 1972, Helmuth Bott – Head of Development at Porsche – asked his engineer Hermann Burst to look into why the car was getting too much ‘lift’, causing the car to behave unpredictably at high speeds. Together with his colleagues Tilman Brodbeck and stylist Rolf Wiener, Burst came up with the rear spoiler for the RS – better known as the ducktail.

“At the time, I thought the spoiler was just a solution to a technical problem. It took me a long time to realise that we had created an icon.”

Hermann Burst

Aerodynamics engineer, Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7

But the game-changing qualities of the 911 Carrera RS 2.7 didn’t end there. This car, the most powerful model of the earliest generation of the 911, was also the first 911 to be christened ‘Carrera’ – the jewel in the crown of the Porsche range at the time. 

The inspiration for the name came from the Carrera Panamericana, a legendary (and highly dangerous) Mexican road race that ran from border to border for five consecutive years in the early 1950s. Porsche has secured a memorable class victory in the 1953 event with a 550 Spyder and third place overall a year later. Several high-powered Porsche engines were given the Carrera moniker thereafter and when a name was needed for the new top-of-the-range 911, one stood out.