Description
- built from a genuine 1972 911S
- well-developed and extensively campaigned car
- with FIA historic papers, and UK road registration
- substantial recent expense
- an ideal road, track and event car
Model History
The ST moniker described a group of around 50 911s made by Porsche to lightweight competition specification in the period from late 1969 to 1971. A run of special shells were built using thinner gauge steel in certain areas and omitting body parts that were redundant for racing. Twelve cars were retained for use by the Works team and the rest were sold to customers.
The very first cars in the ST series used the lighter Karmann built T bodies and as a result the factory started to use the moniker “ST” to describe the cars internally.
In 1972, the factory produced its first “off-the-shelf” customer 911 racing car, the 2. 5 S/ R. Around 24 of these cars were made and, while faster than the cars they superceded, they were a little more prosaic as they were based on the standard roadgoing S chassis.
As time has passed the nomenclature “ST” has been applied to both the original factory M471 lightweight cars and the 1972 S/ R. It has also been used to describe a rather larger number of standard road cars that were modified with varying degrees of sophistication by customer teams sometimes with factory supplied kits.
With so few of these cars made in period combined with their high values, it is no wonder owners often use 911s from the late 60s and early 70s as donor cars to reproduce their attractive looks, accessible but competitive performance and versatility to use and race today for a fraction of the cost of an original ST.
This Car
Chassis the details below was built at the end of 1971 as a left hand drive 2. 4 S and delivered new to Italy once it sold on 31/ 12/ 71. As listed on the Porsche Letter of Origin, the car was finished in Aubergine with Black Leatherette interior and was supplied with tinted windshield and glass and white fog lamps.
In 2006, German Porsche specialists, PS Automobile restored and converted the 911S to ST specification before selling it to Frank Strothe who would go on to race the car in German racing series. The car was stripped to a bare shell before all the necessary changes were made to the bodywork to fit the host of mechanical upgrades, most distinctively the wider wheel arches to accommodate larger wheels and tyres. The owner commissioned pre-eminent Porsche engine builder Manfred Rugen to supply a new 2. 5L engine and gearbox to fit to the car. A colour change to Lime Green was also carried out.
The car passed through the hands of another German racer who continued to race it before the current owner purchased the car in July 2018. He soon sent it to Tuthill Porsche for significant cosmetic upgrades including a colour change to Leaf Green and upgrades to be more suited to road rally competitions like the Tour Auto and Modena Cento Ore. This involved fitting Exe-tc road dampers, a competition pedal box, and a new 100 litre fuel tank amongst other upgrades as well as registering it with historic technical papers and the UK road registration which it retains today.
The owner brought the car back with him to Belgium to be run by SG Racing for the 2021 season. They built up a new higher revving and more powerful 2. 5L short-stroke engine to replace the well-used Rugen engine for him to compete in The Tour Auto. The following year, the car competed in two rounds of Peter Auto’s racing series in the CER1 grid before focus turned to another prestigious road rally, the Modena Cento Ore where it was placed under Marc de Siebenthal’s care. The car continued to race with Peter Auto at Mugello, Spa and Dijon in the 2023 season before competing at Le Mans Classic for the owner’s final race in the car.
The car has been very thoroughly developed by the current owner over his five years of ownership with no expense spared. His pace has improved significantly as improvements to the tune of the engine, handling and brakes have been made.
