Porsche is one of the heavyweight contenders for the greatest all time automotive manufacturer title. With nearly 80 years of motorsport experience, Porsche was successful in their very first venture into the automotive industry, with the 356 in 1949. Fast forward a few years, and the 911 follows the same success laid out by its big sister. One of the 911’s most notable endeavours as a race car came in 1974, when the 3.0 RS was contracted to be the official car for the inaugural International Race of Champions (IROC). Roger Penske, who founded the series, desired a fast, reliable and contemporary race car to be driven by all drivers. All fingers pointed to the 3.0 RSR, and Penske then ordered 15 cars to be piloted by racing legends in the first series, Denny Hulme and Emmerson Fittipaldi among the most notable. Taking notes from the success of the Carrera 2.7 RS, Porsche dropped the weight to under 900kg, and increased the power to 330 horsepower with its new mechanical injection, twin-spark 3 litre flat-6 engine. They also utilised the braking system from the iconic 917, creating this Frankenstein of iconic Porsches to be used for the IROC series.
It’s the passion for early 911’s and the IROC series, that left 1978 Porsche 911 SC owner, Stan Adler, with the motivation to pay tribute, by building a road legal version of the 1974 race car. Stan was initially in talks with a man in Darwin who was trying to sell his 911 SC a number of years ago. Stan was asked to sell the car for him, and ended up buying it instead. “The car was yellow with a RUF front bar on it, and I kept it like that for a while… I decided I wanted to make it an IROC tribute car, and so I got a guy in Slacks Creek, he had it about a year to paint it Mexico Blue, which is one of the 15 colours that Roger Penske ordered for the IROC series.” Stan says. Though not exactly alike, Stan’s car packs the same punch that the original RSR had, sporting a more modern 3.6 litre engine from a 964 Carrera, producing nearly 300 horsepower, as well as Porsche 930 Turbo brakes. Aesthetically though, Stan’s car is about as close as you can get to the real thing. Accurately sized wheels and tyres, an era-accurate wide body conversion, and a striking blue and yellow colour-way, making this road car, look and feel like a race car. “Over the years, I’d acquired a taste for the IROC RSR cars…this car I bought in 2000 and bought back in 2015, so its been evolutioned…The most memorable moment was when I picked it up from the panel-beaters and the painters and it was as I wanted it. I had the interior done, the steering wheel done how I wanted it, and it drove great.”.
Being behind the wheel of this car gave me a sensation I’d never previously experienced in the drivers’ seat. A rear engine, rear-wheel-drive, naturally aspirated flat-6 through a 5-speed manual gearbox. This car was phenomenal. It had power in every gear at any RPM. I'd put my foot down in third, and immediately felt the full capacity of that engine. But it wasn’t overpowering. At any point I knew that I could put my foot down, and release all of its power at once, but while cruising around, it felt about as easy to drive as my Subaru Forester. As someone who had never driven a 911 before, it was beautifully forgiving. I immediately felt comfortable driving it. It may have been due to the dozens of hours driving the 3.0 RSR on Assetto Corsa, but Stan’s car was surprisingly familiar to drive. The engine truly comes to life at about the 3000rpm mark, as it transitions from mostly induction noise, to that instantly recognisable Porsche boxer sound - albeit, rather unfamiliarly coming from behind me. While the car doesn’t possess one of the era-accurate engines, it still gives a very analog experience. A perfect balance of power and weight made the car feel comfortable to drive, while the lack of driver-aids kept you on your toes. For me, this was one of the true ‘sports car’ experiences, and its hard to compare any other car to that of a 70s 911.
The Porsche 911 model in its entirety possesses a certain aura that I don’t believe any other sports car has. It’s like the anatomy of a bee. It’s rear engine, rear-wheel-drive layout doesn’t make much sense on paper, yet it still flies better than most other cars. While I think Porsche has retained most of this unique sensation in the more modern 911’s, I think Stan’s culmination of Porsche’s early styling, and contemporary engineering, makes for an even more unique feeling.
Commentaires