Porsche, 1976 911 Carrera RS

PORSCHE POWER

You may remember the 1980s as the decade in which the word Yuppie – ‘young upwardly mobile professional’ – entered the public consciousness.

Not necessarily a compliment, ‘yuppie’ became the word most associated with young, wealthy, mostly male, financial traders who modelled themselves after Gordon Gekko in Wall Street, wore Armani suits from Monday to Friday, dressed like an extra from Miami Vice on the weekend, and were often found in crowded areas shouting ‘BUY’ and ‘SELL’ into used mobile phones the size and weight of house bricks. Yuppies were not, at least as this writer remembers them, viewed as anything other than prats.

However, though a yuppie may have been wanting in the departments of character and taste, they did latch on to one item that really was as good as they imagined themselves to be.

And that was the Porsche 911.

As much a part of the yuppie uniform as braces, a Rolex and a wad of notes folded into a monogrammed money clip, the Porsche 911 was very much more than a rich man’s accessory.

The rear-engined 911 first appeared in 1964 and the model’s history across the decades is nothing short of amazing.

In its various guises, the 911 scored Monte Carlo and European Rally victories, more GT Championships than you can shake a stick at and, as the 935 (the factory version of the 911 turbo), so many victories on the track – including in Australia where Alan Jones drove it victory in every round of the 1982 Australian GT Championship – it must have been a depressing experience indeed for every other manufacturer when it rumbled up to the start line.

It was, and is, a brilliant car.

This 1976 911 will, hopefully, be carrying on that tradition of Porsche motorsport success on the historic motor racing circuit in Queensland.

Owner Andrew Bear, who has been racing in historic events for many years, is in the process of converting it from road car to race winner after discovering the car in the US.

“I was searching for a project and I was looking at a few different cars, but nothing was jumping out at me,” he says. “I wanted a classic that was nice to drive on the road and something I could drive to the track and do some historic racing with on the weekends. So, the next thing I find myself doing was purchasing this car sight unseen out of Illinois, USA!

“I had only just started looking around for an early 911 and by chance I purchased an American AutaBuy magazine at my local newsagent and as soon as I turned the page and saw the car I thought, ‘That’s it!’

“My next thought was how to work out a deal on this car from the other side of the world. Luckily for me it was at a licensed dealer showroom on consignment, so they were very helpful to deal with and the purchase went well.”

Luckily, the Porsche had been well-treated by its previous owner and much of the work – at least the expensive work – needed to turn it from street cruiser to track racer had been done.

“The previous owner was building it up as a show/ track car but didn’t get it finished and decided to sell it,” says Andrew. “It was in good condition when I got it. It has a 3.6-litre air-cooled VarioRam out of a later 993 Porsche, has twin turbo brakes fitted from a 2001 911, and the widebody 964-style body kit fitted to give it an updated look.

“It did need some work to finish it properly. I repainted the front and rear bars, put in a new custom exhaust, some Carrera RS decals, new lights and lenses, and fixed the engine wiring. I’m very happy with how its turned out so far.

“I still have a few things I want to do to it,” he adds. “I have a bolt-in CAMS-approved roll cage to fit, and I want to do a full dash retrim, and fit some new door trims and carpet. I’m getting all that sorted and then I will be ready for some track days. At the moment she’s just a road car – but a very nice one!”

It certainly is, and when the work is complete the 911 will look pretty dashing on the track as it challenges other classics at Morgan Park and Lakeside, as well as the Noosa hill climbs.

A car enthusiast who has owned, and raced, a number of classic motors (including a 1968 Fastback that we featured in the May 2017 edition of Motor Trader), Andrew says this Porsche is one car that he will hang on to longer than most. It’s fast and fun to drive and, as a classic Porsche, there’s another very good reason to keep hold of it.

“I think I’ll keep this one for a while,” he says. “The prices for old 911’s has really been increasing for a few years now, so I don’t have any plans to sell this anytime soon!”

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