Background & Tech
In the late 1960s, as California’s new anti-smog legislation became operative, it was apparent that highly tuned cars like the Porsche 911 would be affected. Breathing through carburettors and running on premium fuel, the 911 was soon in difficulty with traffic authorities. The S was even withdrawn for a year in 1969 so that Porsche could reduce its emissions, replacing the Weber carburettors with mechanical injection but as the law became tighter this proved only a temporary fix and by 1974, the now 2.7 flat six had been converted to K Jetronic injection, a second-generation system developed by Bosch for Porsche which metered out fuel far more carefully.
The timing of American laws at the beginning of the 1970s meant that Porsche’s largest market would not be able to avail of the final mechanical injection 911, the celebrated Carrera 2.7 RS. This of course caused dismay, but it would prove to be simply the first of a series of disappointments for US buyers who would be deprived, not just of the 930 Turbo for most of the 1980s, but also the 959, a disaster for Porsche because America would have taken probably two thirds of production, lost as a result.
When reviews of the new 964 RS reached the US in 1991, frustration understandably resurfaced. However, when the PCNA (Porsche Club of North America) asked Zuffenhausen to consider homologating the 964 RS, Porsche turned its US subsidiary down, claiming the cost of crash-testing potentially half a dozen cars could not be justified even against a forecast of 250 cars: the company was then walking a financial tightrope and could not afford to take risks with a 911which was already registering poor sales in the US because of the collapse of the dollar.
In 1991 Zuffenhausen had even begun assembling the Mercedes 500E to use up otherwise redundant production space.
This refusal however was to reckon without Fred Schwab, the PCNA’s new CEO, and Vic Elford whom local Porsche enthusiasts enlisted to help. Elford had been living in America since 1984 when he joined Renault Motorsport as US team manager and by the late 1980s, he was working as a Porsche driving instructor at Louden in New Hampshire. Given his fame and competition record, the outgoing Elford was popular with the wider Porsche community and readily assented to assist representations to Zuffenhausen.
Perhaps Elford’s longstanding friendship with Ferdinand Piëch helped, and perhaps new sales boss at Zuffenhausen Dieter Laxy saw an opportunity here, but in any case, this would prove a very successful piece of lobbying: at the Detroit Show in January 1992, a new model appeared on the stand, the Porsche Carrera RS America. Initially, North American dealers were not excited by this seemingly reduced-specification Porsche 911.
They recalled the ClubSport which, introduced without fanfare four years earlier, had generated minimal interest. Priced at $46,000, the same as the standard 3.2 Carrera, but without the latter’s air conditioning, sound system or central locking, it seemed to be a car without a purpose. Car & Driver announced that the ClubSport offered no performance advantage, administering effectively the kiss of death, for eventually a mere 28 Club Sports were sold in North America.
The RS America was different: unlike the ill-fated Club Sport which had turned up virtually unannounced, not only was the RS America the 911 which enthusiasts had asked for, but wisely, at $53,700 it was priced $10,000 below the 964 Carrera 2. It also resembled the 964RS which they had all read about, but knew they could not buy. The February issue of Road & Track described the concept concisely if somewhat irreverently:
“In order to shave ten grand off the price and about 80lbs off the weight, Zuffenhausen has left off power steering, sounded deadening, armrests with built-in cubbies, while including at no extra cost sports suspension, oversize wheels and tyres, unique badges and a fixed whale tail spoiler similar to the Turbo’s.”
Bearing in mind it used the same homologation papers and so had to follow much of the specification of the 964 Carrera 2, the RS America turned out altogether superior to the cynical marketing exercise it might have been. As the model could not be recertified the RS America could not use much of the Rest of World (RoW) RS specification. The RS America thus had to employ the standard C2 spot-welded shell and window glazing and steel rather than aluminium boot lid, and standard glazing as well as heavy US specification impact bumpers and side impact bars in the doors. The model was fully undersealed and galvanised and the flat six was the stock M64/01 rated at 250PS; its dual mass flywheel, gearbox and ABS came straight from the standard 964 C2. The RS America was not offered in C4 or Tiptronic versions.
Fittings & Furnishings
The cabin retained the driver and passenger airbags and Porsche’s heavy but comfortable electrically adjustable sport seats trimmed in corduroy rather than leather which, combined with the bolsters gave better lateral support and was more practical than leather in hot climates. The rear cabin had no seats, simply carpeted as the original RS 2.7 had been.
Belatedly the Department of Transport ruled that this space had to be taken up to prevent carriage of an unbelted a passenger, so later RS Americas were delivered with two storage lockers to fill the seat wells and the final cars delivered in 1994 had rear seats. Although retaining the electric windows, the RS America borrowed the simplified door furniture of the RS with its plain door cards and leather pull straps.
Door mirrors were manually adjusted and the RS America used a lighter, simplified wiring loom and was fitted two speakers and an amplifier for the radio, a $986 option. A heated rear window was standard, but not the rear wiper; the standard Porsche alarm system was fitted.
Chassis & Body
The other changes to the standard 964 specification showed Porsche using its parts bin with its habitual imagination. The ride height of the RS America had to remain the same as the standard Carrera, but Porsche fitted the firmer coil springs and uprated dampers of the 964 Turbo together with the thicker (22mm) front anti-roll bar. This was effectively the M030 suspension upgrade, a $640 option on the stock Carrera. Wheels were cast 17inch hollow light alloy Cup, 7inch front and 8inch rear, again a $1,352 option on the Carrera 2. Not only was the RS America $10,000 cheaper, it also included $2,000 of options, a point not lost on buyers.
The RS America came in three primary colours: Guards Red, Black or Grand Prix White. Two metallic shades, Silver Polar or Midnight Blue were available, though as a $1030 extra. Characteristic of the less-is-more ethos, the options catalogue ran to only four items compared with the 48 of the standard 911. Besides the radio, a limited slip differential (40% locking value) was an additional $913, an electrically operated sunroof for $1,952 and air conditioning $2805. Though the most expensive, the a/c proved the most popular option and approximately 75% RS Americas were so equipped. Half were specified with radios and/or sunroofs and two thirds with the LSD. Only twelve cars were ordered with no options at all.
The Cup alloys, the neatly scripted ‘RS’ on the flanks just ahead of the rear wheels and the RS America decal on the engine cover served to differentiate the RS America from its more expensive sibling although the striking visual difference and the RS America’s trademark was the fibreglass whale tail spoiler which replaced the 964’s mechanically operated device.
Although not a true lightweight by Porsche standards, at a published 2954lbs (1339kg) the RS America was still some 90 lbs lighter than the US specification Carrera 2 thanks to the absence of power steering and air conditioning, electric sunroof and its lighter alloy wheels. However, this was enough for PCNA marketing to describe this new version as “a pure protein Porsche” and continuing: “Porsche now commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Porsche 911 RS with the creation of the Porsche 911 RS America. Released in the late Spring of 1992 as a 1993 model, the RS America is available only in North America. The 1993 RS America captures the spirit of the RS in its emphasis on performance.”
The ebullient Fred Schwab went further, claiming:
“If you like autocross, this is your car. If you are a time trialer, you need this car. If driving is for fun, you need this car, the car the PCNA built.”
With such a billing, the RS America had much to live up to, especially after the flop of the Club Sport This time however, there were few disappointments: Porsche had carefully managed expectations as this extract from Excellence for August 1992 shows:
“For years Americans have heard all about the great Porsches they couldn’t have. If it was a good one, you couldn’t buy it over here. Emissions, laws, crash restraints, you name it, our puritanical heritage insisted on constructing a labyrinth of laws that conspired to keep trick Porsches abroad.”
The author, David Colson, goes on to bemoan the plethora of “tape and paint jobs” that had been offered to Porsche buyers in the US when the rest of the world had the choice of all the “R, RS and RSR versions and their derivatives, but all that was about to change.”
This sets the tone for the rest of the article which goes into raptures about the RS America which not only outperformed the standard Carrera, but cost $10,000 less and was for once a Porsche RS that North Americans could buy. Indeed, it was even made just for them. Other test reports were similarly enthusiastic. It helped that no one was expecting a replica of the uncompromising European 964 RS. The RS America’s acceleration and top speed were little different from those of the Carrera 2. Road & Track recorded 0-60mph in 5.3s and 0-100mph in 13.0s, in line with factory claims, but Car & Driver, known for its brutal treatment of clutches recorded 4.6s for 0-60mph.
There was general agreement that the RS America’s performance appeared to fall half way between the stock Carrera 2 and the RoW (rest of world) RS, which, given the price, they found entirely reasonable. The RS America’s restrained aesthetics also impressed the native scribes, as did the distinguishing whale tail. It was the suspension and steering which really got their ink, not to say blood flowing.
The RS America shared the same clever variable ratio manual steering rack as the RoW RS (although not those delivered to UK, its second biggest market) and combined with the firmer Turbo suspension and wider rims, the result was a noticeably sharper driving experience. Indeed, despite having exactly the same engine as the stock Carrera, the dynamics of the RS America were noticeably more vivid and it seemed faster.
No doubt the absence of sound deadening in the rear bulkhead Porsche had cannily left out, contributed to the enhanced sense of involvement and it was evident that everyone who sampled the car enjoyed it. A couple of magazines thought air conditioning ought to have been a standard fitting and another thought that the limited slip differential should have been part of the package, but opinion was that given its financial and technical constraints, Porsche had produced a 911 worthy of the RS badge.
The public thought so too because by October 1992, PCNA was selling equal numbers of both the standard 911 Carrera and the RS version. By the time of the final deliveries in May 1994, 701 RS Americas had been sold, three times the forecast which led to the development of the car in the first place. In Europe, initial reaction was rather dismissive: the RS America was merely a low specification Porsche 911 which should never have borne the hallowed initials.
But time has changed perspectives: RSA clearly fits the “less is more” approach and it is also possible to see here the genesis of the successful GTS category which would surface on the run-out 997 in 2010.
Values of RS Americas today
Between 1988-94 some 20,000 964s were imported to the US, making it the least common of all the naturally aspirated 911models. The 964 was not the sales success hoped for, not just because of currency-driven price increases, but also because it was in many eyes insufficiently different looking from its predecessor. This was unfortunate because beneath the skin the 964 represented a huge advance with proper independent suspension, ABS, power steering and an engine designed to run with a catalytic converter rather than as a power-consuming bolt-on as previous 911s delivered to North America had.
On the market when Porsche’s fortunes were at a low ebb, the 964 depreciated more quickly than the 911, especially when the 993 appeared in 1994. By the early 2000s, tired examples of the less popular Tiptronic and cabriolet variants could be found as low as $15,000. By contrast, the low-volume RS America remained sufficiently special to escape the turpitudes of neglect and was always worth twice a comparable 964 C2. After the financial crash of 2008, all air-cooled Porsche values started to increase: the iconic models (led by the 1972-3 Carrera 2.7 RS) moved increasingly into the price realm of collectors’ cars.
With only 700 built, the exclusive RS America soon followed and ten years on, the best could sell for well over $100,000. Sothebys achieved $190,000 for a pristine 1600 miles RSA at Amelia Island in 2018; in 2024, at Carmel, Bonhams sold a 1993 car (with non-standard wheels and signs of new paint) for $193,200. The same car, shown below in Bonhams’s sales catalogue, had changed hands for $132,000 only a year earlier in Great Britain.
Generally, modified RSAs are worth less than the factory specification. Few modifications improve a 911 and the more a car has been altered, usually, the less it is worth. Originality has always been important and many owners who do prepare their 911s for autocross will sensibly retain the factory suspension parts and wheels and refit them prior to sale.
RS America v 964 C2
The wide price gap which once made the exclusive RS America far more valuable than its more common C2 sibling has contracted significantly since 2014. The C2 (manual coupé) has always been the enthusiast’s choice, but in the last decade its ranks have been thinned by the resto-mod and reimagined industry, so many sound coupés have disappeared from the market. This means good, unmodified manual C2s are surprisingly hard to find and their values reflect this.
A potential buyer is now looking at spending about $100,000 for an exceptional if not concours C2, and about 50% more for an RS America in comparable condition.
As both models have the same performance and running costs, (though the RS America may cost more to insure) the buyer is effectively paying half as much again for the exclusivity of the RS model, but given its rarity, precedent suggests it is probably the better investment.
Another, more expensive possibility, is an imported European specification Porsche 964 RS (which is now allowed into the US but subject to EPA mileage restrictions). A more raw-feeling car, the original 964 RS had an uncompromising suspension designed for track rather than comfortable road use. Day-to-day, the appeal of its manual window winders (in a car without air conditioning) can soon wear off.
Although the 964 RS’s ‘street cred’ is high in the Porsche community, now that few use it for track days, most owners tend to find that RS America with its M030 sport suspension provides a much better ride and is a pleasanter and if not quite as electrically responsive, is just as fast as a drive.
Everyday Practicalities
Like all Porsche sports cars, an RS America could and should be exercised regularly and for this it is eminently usable. On the standard ride height there are no qualms about kerbs or ramps and the 964’s modest dimensions and excellent driver visibility make it a straightforward 911 (unlike some later, be-winged GT3s) to manoeuvre in parking garages. Unlike the European RS which had no under sealing (saving a footling 22lbs) the America had the full underside treatment which Porsche warranted for ten years.
Final thoughts
For the buyer who can afford the exclusivity premium a 964 RS America, there is no reason not to look for one. The difficulty might be in unearthing the right car for although most of the 700 built are believed to exist still, many of the better examples are undoubtedly salted away in collections. Cars that have sat for long periods even in controlled conditions often need some recommissioning when they emerge. Often overlooked by marque historians, the 911 RS America was an intelligently conceived and priced Porsche, a minor success story in its time and it remains understandably popular thirty years later.
