Rennsport Porsche 911 RSR, Inspired By a Legend
Only 50 or so 1970s 911 RSRs were built and can fetch seven-figure price tags. How do we experience this icon when so few exist? Talk to Rennsport.
As covered in a great new new Carfection video, in the early 1970s, Porsche switched its focus from rally racing to circuit racing. With this came a slight change in rules. Rules they had to adapt to. This meant homologation, no more building race cars that didn’t have street equivalents. Homologation probably was and continues to be one of the key reasons we get to experience amazing cars at all. Manufacturers are literally forced to produce road-going models if they want to race, and we reap the benefits.
However, these benefits usually end up holding insane price tags. Usually, manufacturers only produce the bare minimum models required, thus, rarity becomes a key factor for customers. With rarity comes a war, usually won by the highest bidder. This is why 1970s Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7s are incredibly desirable and can sell well upwards of $600,000. The 2.8 RSR? You’re looking at a near a million dollars for a pristine original. What if you want to experience the quality and raw experience that these old race-focused Porsches achieved, but you aren’t looking to spend your life savings on one? You’d find a man like the owner of Rennsport. Thanks to the Carfection YouTube channel, we get to see Rennsport’s awesome interpretation of a 911 RSR.
Paul Cockell is the head and founder of Rennsport and has been working on air-cooled Porsches since the 1980’s when they were brand new. Cockell states that the inspiration for starting this company was “the shape of the ’73 car”. This is why the stunning 911 seen in this video is originally a 1988 model that has been fully resto-modded to look like a 1973 Carrera RS “Touring.” There is definitely purists who will take offense to such practices. However, the owner of Rennsport has one thing to say about that: “If you want to build something, build it how you want it.” Now, this 1988 911 runs a 3.5 liter stroked from the original 3.2 liter engine. Thanks to modern engineering such as a standalone ECU, this flat-six now makes around 350 HP.
Although Rennsport does do conversions with coilovers and more modern tech, this ’88 is still on the torsion bars like it would have been many decades ago. If you were to explain this company’s ideology in one sentence, it would be: Keeping the old school and making it better. This means adding things like A/C and sound-deadening components, but avoiding things like ABS and traction control. Considering over “900 to 1,000 hours go into each car” (reports the video),it’s apparent that a lot of skill and respect goes into these vehicles. Also, what other car restoration company owner is willing to do donuts in the parking lot with classic Porsches? Sometimes you got to appreciate the passion just as much as the car.
