How the RS differs from lesser 911s
The 1973 Porsche Carrera RS is instantly recognizable thanks to its distinctive “Carrera” scripts and ducktail. It’s also one of the most valuable 911 road cars that exists, even if it looks more than a bit like every other 911 of the era. So what makes the RS so special and why does it exist in the first place?
Derek Tam-Scott explores these questions and more in this video, contextualizing the RS in terms of what else was happening at Porsche at the time, including the surprisingly significant role of the 917 in the origin of the RS. He describes how the RS differs from lesser 911s, and explains that the fundamental purpose of the car was to homologate it for racing by building a minimum of 500 examples for road use. The racing version of the car, the RSR, was exceptionally successful, often beating all out racing prototypes in endurance races and ultimately paving the way for a host of other extremely successful 911-based race cars, ultimately culminating with the 935 achieving an overall win at Le Mans in 1979.
With all this racing heritage, what is the car like on the street? In short, it’s epically good, and Derek can’t stop talking about it.
BTS (behind the scenes) with DTS: Derek Tam-Scott’s spirit age is excess of 75 years old, and nowhere is that clearer than his taste in cars. At age 16, he went to work at one of the United States’ foremost vintage car dealers, which cemented his elderly taste. Now with a decade and a half’s experience buying, selling, driving, and brokering classic and exotic cars, he’s experienced many of the world’s most iconic cars. And even liked some of them.
