Offered by Gooding & Co
Estimate: $750,000 - $900,000Chassis: 9110301383
Documented by Production Record, Factory Correspondence, and Porsche COAPhoto-Documented Rotisserie Restoration Completed by Porsche SpecialistAccompanied by Extensive Restoration Photos, Invoices, Tool Kit, and Period BrochureOne of the Most Historic Porsche Discoveries in Recent Memory/One of as Few as Six Narrow-Body STs Thought to Have Been Produced
PROVENANCEBill Summers, Toronto, Canada (acquired circa 1982)Current Owner (acquired from the above)
EXHIBITEDPorsche Parade at Jay Peak, Jay, Vermont, 2016
LITERATUREPeter Linsky, Excellence Magazine, “Hidden Treasure,” February 2017, pp. 60-64Karl Ludvigsen, Porsche: Excellence Was Expected, model discussed p. 546John Starkey, The Racing Porsches: R to RSR, model discussed p. 33Dieter Landenberger, 911 x 911: The Official Anniversary Book Celebrating 50 Years of the Porsche 911, model pictured p. 238
THIS CARThere is no automobile that is more inextricably tied to its competition heritage than the Porsche 911. Engineered with features that allowed the cars to be highly competitive racers right off the showroom floor, the 911 legend is tied to, and buoyed by, its accomplishments on the track.
While the Carrera 2.7 RS and its racing program are well known, some may be less familiar with its influential predecessor, the 911 ST. For 1970, the FIA allowed significant changes to production-based sports cars and GTs. Porsche’s competition manager, Rico Steinemann, realized that homologating the new 911 S at a low weight would yield a huge advantage. To do this, Porsche produced stripped-down 911 S coupes with lightweight features, including pull-strap door releases, mesh engine-grilles, and rubber deck lid hold-downs instead of release cables. The race cars would go even further, with features such as reinforced shock towers and thin-gauge sheet metal.
The story of the car offered here, 911 ST chassis 9110301383, begins with the consignor, a lifelong Porsche specialist and restorer, scanning the Internet. When he came across a 1970 911 S in an online insurance auction, he became intrigued by the possibility of it as a restoration project. The 911, which had minor accident damage to the rear, had been fitted with a 935-style Evex fiberglass body kit. Knowing it would need bodywork and a total restoration, he outbid several other parties and hoped that what arrived would be a sound car hidden beneath its 1980s-era appearance.
As the consignor and his son stripped their new purchase, they immediately began to find signs that this was no ordinary 911. Among other things, they found a “dead pedal,” welded heater tube outlets, roll-bar mounting plates, reinforced shock towers, and holes for pull-strap door releases. There were no tubes in the shell for the trunk and deck lid cables. The consignor and his son stripped the paint from the roof and measured the shell’s thickness; it was indeed thinner than a standard car. Significantly, the handwritten production number remained underneath the dashboard upholstery and matched the stamping in the metal panel behind the knee pad.
The consignor reached Porsche Historical Archives Manager Dieter Landenberger, who responded: “There is a reason for all the unusual features on your car: it is a Rallye car!” Unfortunately, the production file was missing, but in the handwritten production book Landenberger found definitive proof that this was indeed a lightweight 911 ST. Referring to all 930 kg Rallye cars, Landenberger added: “From September 1969 to July 1970, I only count 41 911 S with this specification.” Several experts put the number of narrow-body cars such as this at six to 10.
According to Porsche records and 911 authority Marco Marinello, the ST was delivered to Hahn Porsche, a dealer in Stuttgart next to the factory. It was finished in Silver Metallic and fitted with a limited-slip differential, sport seats, antenna, loudspeaker with noise suppression, and tinted glass. The consignor believes a Porsche executive or racing driver possibly owned the car. The 911’s complete history is still unknown, but according to the consignor it may have passed through racer-dealer Ludwig Heimrath before coming to Canada, remaining with the previous owner from around 1982.
The consignor’s team completed an exacting, fully photo-documented, concours-quality restoration. The special lightweight interior material was sourced from the original supplier, and an original factory-style spot-welder was used to weld in a set of NOS quarter panels and new OEM floors. The gearbox and limited-slip differential were rebuilt and a correct-type 911/02 2.2-Liter S engine was sourced, rebuilt, and fitted with correctly dated 911 S heads and cams, nitrated rods, new Mahle 9.8:1 pistons, and other correct ancillaries. Wherever possible, date-coded 1970 parts were used.
The restored 911 ST was shown at the Porsche Parade in 2016 at Jay Peak, Vermont, but has not been widely exhibited. The new caretaker will have the joy of reintroducing the car’s fascinating features to the world and will own an extremely rare piece of Porsche history.
