September 2018 -
For sale on Hemmings for US$595,000
Engine block number(?), 1974 Flag Mirror among other items.
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RM|Sotheby's Marlborough House Auction, London, UK, November 5, 2022
1973 Porsche 2.7L 911 Carrera RS
VIN: 9113600388
Engine: 6630415
Trans: 7830383
Color: Orange (originally Sepia Brown)/Black
Mileage: 71,159 km (indicated)
Auction Estimate: £325,000 - £375,000 / US$363,795 - $419,760
Sold for: £342,500 / ~US$389,680
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Auction Description:
- An excellent example of Porsche’s most famous and desirable homologation 911
- Engine overhaul and update completed by Autofarm in May 2022, with around 5,000 kilometres driven since
- Offered for sale with Porsche Certificate of Authenticity, issued in September 2017
- Certified by FIA Historic Technical Passport, valid until December 2027
- Owned for 30 years by ardent Porsche collector, Philippe Aunay, former President of Porsche Club France, and his family
- More recently owned by Josh Sadler, Porsche devotee and founder of marque-specialist workshop, Autofarm
- Appeared as a feature car in French and British magazines including CAR, Classic & Sports Car, Flat6, GT Porsche, Porsche Club GB, Total 911, and Ultimate Porsche
This example, chassis “0388”, an early-January 1973 build, is one of those important first series cars. It was sold new in Paris as a basic “no extras” Touring model. Thought to be one of only four cars sold into France in Sepia Brown, accounts of its history suggest it led a very busy life as a daily driver in its early years.
In early 1986, the car was acquired by Philippe Aunay, President of Porsche Club France from 1980 until 2004. Mr Aunay was a high-profile personality around the French Porsche circuit, establishing the Rouen Porsche Centre and IMSA race team in the 1990s, all-the-while amassing an impressive collection of homologation-spec 911s. He claimed that the Porsche had covered 223,000 kilometres when he acquired the car, as told in a 1992 article in Flat 6 magazine that celebrated 20 years of the RS.
As an enthusiast of early-RS models, Mr Aunay entrusted the car to legendary Porsche preparer, Louis Meznarie, and commissioned a total overhaul. This included a comprehensive colour change to Gulf Orange—none had been sold into France in that colour—plus a general simplification back to the more basic Sport specification, while retaining the special Recaro sport seat option. The mechanical rebuild included a factory-exchange transmission, and a total engine rebuild onto a new—and still unnumbered—magnesium crankcase.
Mr Aunay sadly passed away in 2004. At that point, his collection went into storage—a 2015 photo shows this car on a parquet floor and beside a radiator. The cars remained there until the death of his wife in 2016, when the collection was offered to Autofarm, the UK-based independent Porsche specialist. After discussions between Josh Sadler, co-founder of the workshop, and Mr Aunay’s son, Olivier, who tragically died in a motorcycle accident in 2018, a deal was finally struck, with this 2.7 RS Touring heading back to the Bicester workshop in October 2016. Having been retained by the Aunay family as the weekend “fun car”, the Porsche was cherished, so a deal was brokered. Mr Sadler had established Autofarm in 1973 as an enthusiast of the RS 2.7, so found himself in the position of being unable to resist buying this example—which had also been Mr Aunay’s first 2.7 RS.
Upon arriving at Autofarm, the odometer read 55,000 kilometres—though this is known to hide large parts of the car’s actual mileage, owing to its five-digit display. Come 2021, 35 years after the mechanic Menzarie had rebuilt the engine and with the odometer showing 71,000 kilometres, it had begun to leak oil. With Autofarm’s help, Sadler embarked on the next engine overhaul, enabling him to add all the engineering upgrades developed over the decades. The nominal degree of wear supported the suggestion that the engine had only covered around 48,000 kilometres since 1986.
While chassis 0388 isn’t a “garage queen”, it is an RS that—with Sadler now not far off 80 years old—needs to find a new and hopefully active home. The Porsche comes with historic competition safety equipment as spares, along with its original steel Touring bumpers and sundry other parts. Mr Sadler has even kindly offered his continued support if required.