Must-have
No, we won’t be telling the whole story of the 964, but will jump straight to the 1990 Carrera Cup, the actual predecessor of the Carrera RS, which is what we’re talking about here. But you have to look at the bigger picture. In 1989, Ulrich Bez joined Porsche as Head of Development; after consulting with the board, he was given the go-ahead to continue production of the 911 series, and the starting signal was given for the 993. For Bez, it was clear that the 911 was the backbone of the brand and that it was also the most profitable model – including in customer racing. At the end of 1989, he decided at fairly short notice that the successful 944 Turbo Cup would be discontinued and replaced by a 911 Carrera Cup (M700). He appointed Herbert Linge as manager, assisted by Just Capito, Roland Kussmaul became technical director and Jürgen Barth took over sales. (Pictures above/below: #491768, colour code P5, sold in December 2023 via RM Sotheby’s for $390,000.)
What Kussmaul had assembled (the Cup cars rolled off the same production line as the series vehicles, but received special treatment) was pretty rough. A few kilos were added (roll cage from Matter, plus 26.5 kilos). Otherwise, the usual programme for customer sports Porsches was applied: everything that wasn’t absolutely necessary was removed. With the M700, Kussmaul was more thorough than ever before. Even the screws for attachment points, for example for the insulation material, were removed, a 1-litre windscreen washer tank replaced the 7.4-litre container from the series, and new, lighter rear-view mirrors from DP were fitted. Compared to the Carrera 2 base model (1350 kg), an impressive 230 kg (1120 kg) was saved. In addition, there was a slightly more powerful engine (265 instead of 250 hp), and of course the chassis was modified, most obviously with 17-inch Speedline rims. and the brakes from the 911 Turbo – for those who want the exact details, we recommend the new book by Christoph Mäder. Fifty Carrera Cup models were built for the 1990 model year, 40 of which were sold to customers at a price starting at 123,000 marks. In 1991, a few technical adjustments were made (M001), and the Cup was a complete success, with 120 units sold. In 1992, another 112 units were sold, and in 1993, 15 more. (Pictures above/below: #491377, colour code G4, offered in July 2024 via RM Sotheby’s, estimate $300,000 to 350’000, not sold.)
But actually, all this was just preparation for the real Carrera RS, the road version – 1,000 of which had to be built in order to be homologated under the new N/GT regulations. Once again, the Carrera 2 was the basis, minus electric windows, central locking, alarm system, air conditioning, rear seats, insulation material, electric seat adjustment, power steering, underbody protection, etc. With the exception of the ‘thin glass’ windscreen, the bonnet was pressed from aluminium, the engine (M64/03) had an output of 260 hp and a maximum torque of 325 Nm; the modified G50/10 gearbox was used. It weighed 1220 kilograms. In the 1992 model year, 1916 basic RS models were built and sold for 145,450 Deutschmarks, plus 73 Touring models (M002, treated separately) and another 290 Clubsport models (M003, also treated separately). Any other special features? Macau (again M003), RS 3.8 (M004) and RSR 3.8 (M005, we already have it, here), C4 lightweight (here), Cup USA (M001) and finally RS America (964.320). No, there is no collection of the basic RS models, there are too many of them, but if we see something nice, we’ll add it (also so that price developments can be observed). We take a closer look at everything else. (Pictures below: #490656, color code A1, in May 2014 sold via RM Sotheby’s for 268’800 Euro.)
We have more rare Porsche 911s here. And even more beautiful things in the archive.
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