Daily Slideshow: 5 Porsches That Won't Tip the Scale

1. 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Sport

Racing regulations have led birth to some very amazing vehicles. With Porsche particularly, when the FIA set regulations for displacement and weight, the Carrera RSR was born. A whopping 500 of these were built and split into 2 classes. The smaller class was labeled the M471 and often referred to as "lightweight" as it was a very stripped down version of the 911S. After all, it was a purpose-built race car. Only 200 of these club racers were made and the weight savings were accomplished by way of using thinner-gauge steel for their wings, roof panel, and doors and thinner and lighter clear glass from the Belgian firm Glaverbel. This iconic race car weighs in at 2,150 pounds.

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2. Porsche 906 Carrera 6

Between 1966 and 1967, about 65 of these race cars were built. A couple of those have set International records for winning races on many famous pieces of tarmac. Everything from Sebring to Grand Prix de Paris. Some of the technical specs include: 

This well rounded and experienced beast weighs in at 1,488 pounds. 

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3. Porsche 356 SL

Only 4 of these one-off, rare and super lightweight cars were ever built. Two were prototypes and two were race cars who participated in the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1951. These cars were also referred to the Gmünd Coupes. One of these 2 race cars met its demise during a practice run and crashed. The other one remained to win for its class! This classic Porsche comes in at a very scant 1,410 pounds!

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4. Porsche 718 Formel 2

Also known as the "Formula 2". this Porsche is not only one of the lightest but also a very historical work of art. From 1958 until 1962, Porsche produced the 718 sports racing car based on the highly successful Porsche 550. This series went on to become so successful from its beginning days of winning the small sports car class that eventually it was referred to as the 'giant killer'. As part of the Formula 2 championship, the motor was eventually bumped up to 1.6-liters with a newly modified, lightweight chassis. As light as 1,005 pounds

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5. 909 Bergspyder

This was the lightest Porsche of the whole brand. But, it's the engineering of all the mechanicals that account for how light this race car was built. There was a fear of a competitor's entry in the Hillclimb races that sparked Ferdinand Piech to engineer this lightweight racing marvel. It had an all-aluminum chassis, titanium suspension, loom silver wiring in place of copper, and balsa wood ballast resistors for the ignition system. It had a nitrogen-pressurized Kugeltank fuel cell. This was significantly lighter than using a fuel pump. So, how light was this engineering marvel? 826 pounds! For comparison, that's nearly half the weight of an F1 race car and a 1/5 of the weight of a Bugatti Veyron!