After sales of the Porsche 911 started to fade in the early 1970s, the company decided to develop a range topping version that would capture the imagination until planned turbocharged 911 was unveiled in 1975.
Above everything, the 911 Carrera had to be very quick. The first move was to take the capacity of the flat six engine up to 2.7 liters, which required new cylinder barrels so the bore could be increased to 6mm to 90mm, through the stroke remained the same. Porsche used the advanced Nikasil coating process inside the barrels to reduce friction and wear. With both mechanical fuel injection, the engine produced 210bhp.
The effectiveness of the new engine was increased by making the rest of the car mush lighter than a standard issue 911. The RS’s body was made of thinner gauge steel and windows were also thinner than normal. Other weight saving measures included the deletion of soundproofing and the replacement of the steel bumpers with one piece plastic units.
The resulting 911 Carrera RS, with some 150kg knocked off the kerb weight and a much more powerful engine, was capable of hitting 60 mph in just 5.5 seconds and could get up to 149 mph. Most of the cars were produced in white with the now-classic Carrera livery running across above the still and small ‘duck tail’ spoiler mounted on the engine lid. Despite the go-faster looks, this spoiler massively reduced rear axle lift at high speeds. Porsche also produced a slightly more civilized and self effacing version without the spoiler called the RS Touring.
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