1974 Porsche 911 RSR 3.02-time Swiss National championship winnerCampaigned by Harry Blumer, Edwin Kofel, and Edy Brandenberger7th of 37 1974 Porsche RSR 3.0s produced by...
1974 Porsche 911 RSR 3.0
2-time Swiss National championship winner
Campaigned by Harry Blumer, Edwin Kofel, and Edy Brandenberger
7th of 37 1974 Porsche RSR 3.0s produced by Porsche
Believed to be one of the most winning RSR 3.0s raced
Approx. 330 horsepower from its 3.0-liter flat six engine
One of the best handling Porsche 911 variations produced
Participant in Rennsport IV, V and VI
A company such as Porsche did not make a name for themselves by accepting the status quo. With their racing customers' insatiable appetite for performance and competition, doing simple upgrades would simply not do. Their 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 2.8 saw lots of success in the racing circuit, but with mounting competition Porsche knew they would need to design a car that broke the performance mold. Enter the 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.0: a more powerful, wider, meaner and more visceral race car that to this day is known as one of the best performing naturally aspirated 911 race cars ever designed by Porsche.
This bright green RSR 3.0's story began being purchased from AMAG by Garage Zbinden for their customer and the RSR's first owner, Harry Blumer in early 1974. The Swiss racer was heavily involved with Garage Zbinden from years of racing in a Porsche 911S and 911RS. Wanting a real race car, Blumer and his friend, Porsche Werks driver Herbert Muller, went to Weissach to order the RSR 3.0. Their primary objective for the 1974 season was to win the prestigious Swiss championship. Unlike many other championships, the Swiss winner had to participate in 5 sanctioned hill climbs in Switzerland, 5 circuit races, and 2 sanctioned airfield races in Switzerland. With a multifaceted racing series such as this, car setup and maintenance are crucial and a critical part of the winning team's strategy. According to notes, Blumer's success was largely due to Mr. Hans Ulrich Sharer, his mechanic from Zbinden.
The 1974 season would be successful for Blumer, taking numerous first-in-class finishes along with respectable overall finishes. Some of the locales for the races included Dijon, Hockenheim, Casale, Osterrichring, along with other Swiss local cities for hill climbs. Based on his success of more than 5 podiums, he won the Swiss national championship in 1974. With his 1974 season now complete, he sold the car to its next racing owner, Edwin Kofel. Kofel, also a Swiss racer, owned the car for 1975 and 1976, actively campaigning the car in the same championship. Over the two years, Kofel would amass a total of 14 podium finishes, with four of those being 1st in class in 1976. After the 1976 season, Kofel sold the car to Edy Brandenberger, the RSR's next future championship-owner.
Brandenberger would yield the most wins in a season for the RSR, with 1977 totaling a staggering 17 podium finishes, seven 1st-in-class finishes and nine 1st place finishes. With his incredible driving ability along with the RSR's performance, this RSR became a two-time Swiss National championship winner. Brandenberger's racing with the RSR was not over however, as he continued to race the car in 1978 and went on to score ten 1st place finishes and 14 total podium finishes. After the car's impressive consecutive racing seasons, it was placed into deep storage and would not emerge for almost two decades.
This RSR has a consistent, documented ownership until present time. The car was restored after its long storage sometime in the early 1990s and upon completion was sold to John Leggat of the USA. Leggat would own the car for almost 10 years before passing away and was subsequently sold to Phil Bagley. The car would go between a few collectors before arriving being purchased by Canepa in 2007.
During this RSR's active racing career, it was able to amass quite the amount of victories with its racing drivers. Some of the most notable items about this car is how unscathed the chassis is, along with its almost untarnished racing record. Entering almost all of its races and finishing them, this is testament to how fastidiously maintained this car remained during its racing career. Both are rare occurrences for race cars of this era, creating a rare combination that only adds even more provenance to this car.
During the ownership of its recent caretaker, the car has seen active historic motorsport racing, including the Monterey Historics at Laguna Seca and Porsche's Rennsport events. During this time, it was authentically maintained and today remains very fresh mechanically. After a decade of ownership with historic racing weekends at different tracks, the owner spoke with Bruce Canepa about selling the car. It wasn't long before the historic race car made its way back to Canepa. Upon return the car was extensively inspected per the “Canepa Difference”, an intensive scrutineering of all the car's mechanicals and cosmetics. Once the inspection was completed, Canepa set out to bring the RSR to a high track-ready standard, servicing the mechanical systems as needed, resulting in a cost of over $63,000.
Canepa's goal with the RSR was to service and prepare the car to make it completely track ready for its next owner, addressing anything and everything that was thought to have been needed. This resulted in servicing and track-prepping multiple systems throughout the car, including the engine and fuel system, engine wiring harness, exhaust system, brakes and suspension, and two spare sets of BBS Racing wheels and Avon tires. Everything from cryo-treated brake pads and rotors to throttle linkages and suspension were addressed, making this car completely 100% ready for the track. A spare set of cryo-treated brake rotors are also included. Fully dyno tuned to complete the process, the 3.0-liter flat six engine pushed out a stout 345 horsepower and 245 lb-ft of torque.