What's the news?
It's not a new production car nor a Jaguar/Land a Rover recreation announcement but this Porsche 911 2.5 S/T is still one of the stars of the Techno Classica Essen classic car show. Bought by US racer Michael Keyser and driven by him, Swiss racer Sylvain Garant and legendary Porsche factory racer Jurgen Barth, the car took part in the 1972 sports car racing season at events such as Sebring, Daytona, Nurburgring and the Targa Florio. The trio also raced it at the 1972 Le Mans 24hrs and brought home a class win and 13th place overall.
By the time Porsche got it back to restore, last year, all that grand lustre had faded. It was rusty, it had been badly damaged and inexpertly repaired and it seemed like kids had been using the roof as a trampoline. Alexander Fabig, head of Porsche Classic at Porsche AG, recalls the state that the car was originally in: "The 911 2.5 S/T was rediscovered a few years ago by a collector in the USA - and it was in a rally dilapidated condition. Our experts have done an excellent job at restoring the sports car to the highest standards. We are thrilled about the confidence this customer placed in us with this restoration job. This project is unparalleled and of great historical significance."
No doubt about the significance as only 24 of these racing 911s were built originally and they're the direct predecessor to the classic RSR cars of the later seventies. To restore this one, Porsche stripped it right back to bare metal, made new panels from scratch (the flared rear wings had to be made mostly by hand) and even put the repaired bodyshell through the same rustproofing and dipping process as a modern 911. The restoration was undertaken to demonstrate the prowess of Porsche's in-house classic car team.
This beautifully restored car originally cost DM49,000 in 1972. It's probably pretty close to priceless now.