Porsche 911 RSR "R7"

Nurbürgring 1973

Gold-look on a transparent gray background patina

This sculpture pays tribute to the seventh of eight factory Porsche 911 Carrera RSRs entered by Team Martini Racing in 1973, thus named 911 Carrera RSR "R7".

It was so modified from a Group 4 911 Carrera that it became illegal in the GT category from its first race and was reclassified as a Prototype for the entire season.

Besides its rarity and its track record, his life is a novel that has continued to this day.

In the fall of 1972, Porsche unveiled its new and soon-to-be legendary 911 Carrera RS, with a displacement increasing from 2.4 to 2.7 liters, initially limited to 500 units to meet the requirements of homologation in the GT Championship. In addition to the RS (RennSport) and RST (Touring) versions, an RSR (RennSport Rennwagen) version produced in 55 units was developed, including the 8 factory RSRs in the colors of Martini Racing.  

Under pressure from competitors, due to the modifications made to these factory RSRs, including an out-of-the-ordinary rear wing extended to the rear wings, the sporting authorities decided to move them from the GT category to the Prototype category. Even if it meant playing in the premier class, Porsche then pushed the mechanics to the limits authorized by these regulations, mainly a cylinder capacity of 3993 cm3 instead of 3.8 liters for the GTs, and more visibly, rims of greater width, fixed by a central nut instead of the five studs.

The 911 RSR "R7" thus began its career in 1973 with its first race at the 1000 km of the Nürburgring, driven by Herbie Müller and Gijs Van Lennep, where it obtained fifth place behind the "real" Matra and Ferrari prototypes. 

It is in this original configuration with the number 6 that it is immortalized in our bas-relief.

For its second race, it achieved the feat of an incredible fourth place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans driven by the same crew with the number 46, just behind three barquette prototypes, namely two Matra-Simca MS 670 and a Ferrari 312 PB which came second.

After an honourable ninth place in the 1000 km of Zeltweg in Austria under the number 8, "our" 911 RSR "R7" was entrusted to a private team to continue its career with another livery in 1973 and 1974.

We then lose track of him except for a rumor claiming that "R7" had violently fallen from a truck and ended up in pieces.

In fact, it was acquired, carefully preserved by a collector for more than three decades, restored to its initial technical configuration with its famous Martini Racing livery, then resold to another collector.

His media story rebounded when another owner claimed to own the real "R7", which he said was rebuilt from the wreckage that fell off the truck, before being dismissed following an expert appraisal in the Porsche Classic workshops in Stuttgart in 2016 and seven years of litigation until 2023.

The 911 RSR "R7" was finally put up for auction at the Goodwood Revival Festival in September 2023 and sold for the tidy sum of 3.6 million euros.

It remains the only Martini-Racing Porsche 911 RSR in this condition, while it is estimated that only four examples remain in the world.