The Complete Book of Porsche 911
Page 4
BASE PRICE
$6,153 coupe - $6,486 Targa
TRACK FRONT
1337mm/52.6 inches
TRACK REAR
1317mm/51.9 inches
WHEELS FRONT
4.5Jx15
WHEELS REAR
4.5Jx15
TIRES FRONT
165-15 radial
TIRES REAR
165-15 radial
CONSTRUCTION
Unitized welded steel
SUSPENSION FRONT
Independent, wishbones, MacPherson struts, longitudinal torsion bars, hydraulic double-action shock absorbers
SUSPENSION REAR
Independent, semi-trailing arms, transverse torsion bars, hydraulic double-action shock absorbers
BRAKES
Discs, 2-piston cast iron fixed calipers
ENGINE TYPE
Horizontally opposed DOHC six-cylinder Typ 901/08
ENGINE DISPLACEMENT
1991cc/121.5CID
BORE AND STROKE
80x66mm/3.15x2.60 inches
HORSEPOWER
160@6600rpm
TORQUE
132lb-ft@5200rpm
COMPRESSION
9.8:1
FUEL DELIVERY
2 Weber 40 IDS carburetors
FINAL DRIVE AXLE RATIO
4.428:1
TOP SPEED
140mph
PRODUCTION
3,573 coupes; 925 Targas; 1 4-door sedan
1967 911R
The lighter platform of the 911T, developed in 1967, led to many competition variations. These cars mostly remained in Germany and Europe, special creations from Ferdinand Piëch’s Experimental Department, Peter Falk’s Competition Department, and Hans Mezger’s racing engine shop. Few outsiders recognized these designations until years later. These cars, the 911R in 1967 and the 911ST, 911GT, and 911T/R in 1968 and later years, were meant for Europe’s endurance races, speed record trials, and long-distance rallies. Their successes helped develop the mystique of the 911.
The 911R, the rennsport or “race” model, resulted from Ferdinand Piëch’s efforts to develop a lean 911. His engineers assembled four prototypes, each successive car using thinner fiberglass panels and Plexiglas windows, as well as metalwork perforated to remove weight. Racing mechanic Rolf Wütherich developed a device that precisely placed and drilled holes through almost any body panel, seat rail, or foot pedal. He patiently shaved away ounces from each car.
Perhaps most significantly, the first “production” R delivered an unexpected triumph to Porsche. High-speed-record endurance runs were obscure challenges that manufacturers forced on each other. Ford’s GT40 held a record for a while, running 112.5 miles per hour (180 kilometers per hour) over four days around Daytona in December 1965, totaling 12,500 miles (20,000 kilometers) at the end. Then Toyota averaged 128.75 miles per hour (206 kilometers per hour) around the Fujiyama circuit, setting 6,250- and 9,375-mile (10,000- and 15,000-kilometer) records. Four Swiss racers calculated that using the Carrera 6 long-tail racer owned by two of them, they could beat all these performances. They applied to the FIA and booked time at Italy’s Monza circuit. Monza had banked walls at either end of an infield oval, but its weather-damaged concrete surface broke the 906’s upper suspension mounts within hours of their start. Rules required entrants to carry all spare parts and necessary tools in the car during the run. Only oil, gas, spark plugs, spare tires, and jacks could remain in the pits. The added weight proved to be too much load, and after just 625 miles (1,000 kilometers), co-driver Jo Siffert pitted with a broken shock absorber mount.
It’s possible the R series was just Ferdinand Piëch’s experimental test fleet and that he didn’t care whether Porsche built or sold more of them. In any event, Wagner and Raether had seen the potential accurately; some of the original 1967 production 911Rs still were available as late as 1970.
1967 911R Coupe
Front and rear deck lids were thin fiberglass. Side windows were 2mm Plexiglas and the windshield was only 4mm thick. Under the hood was a 100-liter (26.4-gallon) fuel tank.
Porsche’s 1967 Sportomatic transmission was a sales success. The company had witnessed the arrival at driving age of an entire U.S. generation that could not manually change a gear or operate a foot clutch. A decade earlier, enthusiasts believed an automatic transmission did not belong in a sports car, though some American manufacturers tried. But by the late 1960s, Porsche had a new concept and a new audience. In the Sportomatic semiautomatic transmission, engineers mated a four-speed manual gearbox to a hydraulic torque converter through a clutch that disengaged automatically the instant the driver touched the gear lever. It was not a true automatic in that the driver had to change gears or risk over-revving the engine. Ironically, Porsche’s European customers were first and most enthusiastic in adopting the new transmission. For years Porsche delivered many more Sportomatics to Europeans than to Americans.
It took an American imagination to develop a unique 911S and to take it beyond prototype stage. A Texan from San Antonio, William Dick, was a VW and Porsche distributor for Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Colorado. While he drove Ferraris and Maseratis, he wanted something more practical. He sent his general manager to Europe to interview independent designers willing to take on his idea—he wanted a four-door 911S for his wife, Hester. He had to go to Los Angeles to find a shop willing to follow through.
Engineer Ferdinand Piëch was obsessed with vehicle weight. His staff pared the 911R down to 800 kilograms, 1,764 pounds. This was 230 kilograms, 506 pounds, less than the production 911S coupe.
Following a development run of four prototypes, Porsche contractor Karl Baur in Stuttgart assembled 21 “production” versions of the lightweight 911R. This car was most notable for a number of endurance records it set under BP sponsorship.
While rear doors offered easy access, seating was confined because the low 911 seats provided no room for toes beneath them. Rumors suggested the conversion cost was more than $20,000 in 1968.
Coachbuilder Dick Troutman and mechanical engineer Tom Barnes in Culver City, California, had a history of designing and producing original race cars for very successful independent American teams. They agreed to build Dick’s car. In December 1966, an early production S arrived in their shops. Metalsmith Emil Diedt removed the roof and lengthened the platform 21 inches (53.3 centimeters) just in front of the B-pillar. The result was a 108-inch (2,743mm) wheelbase. Stylist Chuck Pelly sketched lines of the new car on plywood and sheet metal, as if it were a prototype destined for its racing debut a month later. He redesigned the front fenders to lay the headlights farther back and made other changes, both minor and bold. As Troutman and Barnes neared completion in August 1967, they adopted two new Porsche options, Fuchs wheels and the new Sportomatic transmission. Dick asked the builders to paint the car dark green.
According to Porsche historian Wolfgang Blaube, the four-door found its way onto the Supervisory Board agenda in Stuttgart in the summer of 1968. In considering the viability of a four-door model, the company had hired Italian designer Sergio Farina at Carrozzeria Pininfarina to come up with an idea, code-named 911/B17. It looked swollen and bilious in its psychedelic green paint, and in November 1969 the board passed on the idea. (Ferry then asked his styling department to design another one, coded 911/C20 and given the sequence number Typ 915. Stretched by 13.5 inches, [34.3 centimeters] and completed in July 1970, it was somewhat less appealing than the Pininfarina version. By that time, new management was in place, and another idea, for a larger car with a front engine and water cooling, arose. Ernst Fuhrmann gave that the number 928.)
To accommodate four doors, T&B purchased two additional 911 doors and mounted them backwards as “suicide doors” to provide rear seat access. The B-pillar was robust; the car did not creak with all four doors open.
Texan William Dick contracted race car builders Troutman and Barnes in Culver City, California, to make a four-door 911 for his wife. T&
B lengthened the wheelbase 533mm, 21 inches, to provide room for rear seats and foot wells.
1967 911 Four Door
Troutman and Barnes built the car with the Sportomatic Transmission, a newly arrived option. In later years, the owner replaced it with the S five-speed.
Four drivers shared responsibilities to get the lightweight car around the Monza banked circuit. Lapping the circuit in 1 minute 11 seconds, they averaged 209 kilometers per hour. Each driver took a two-hour shift. Photograph courtesy Porsche Archive
One other 1967 project had even greater long-term impact than the Dick four-door, the 911R, or the Sportomatic transmission. Back in late 1960, Porsche had acquired a 93-acre parcel of rolling farmland near the village of Weissach. Helmuth Bott designed a 1.8-mile test track and skid pad for the property. In 1967 Ferdinand Piëch launched a $20 million building program, intending to put “everyone needed for design and engineering of a car within one hundred meters of each other.” (Since then, the campus has stretched that distance to 300 meters.)
The company’s research and development engineers and designers had plenty of outside work to support the facility. Volkswagen used Porsche for its R&D, a carryover from Professor Porsche’s relationship with VW chairman Heinz Nordhoff since 1948. VW’s annual contracts covered most of Weissach’s overhead. Paul Hensler planned the campus and the buildings and supervised the project.
The R models used Typ 901/22 engines from the 906 Carrera 6 race car with 1,991cc displacement. These highly developed engines produced 210 horsepower at 8,000 rpm.
Over 96 hours, the car ran through rain and fog, day and night. At the end of four days, it had driven 20,086.08 kilometers, 12,505.38 miles. Photograph courtesy Porsche Archive
To reduce weight, the R provided just three instruments, no radio, and no glove box cover. Mechanics drilled holes in countless panels to shave grams and ounces off the car.
YEAR
1967
DESIGNATION
911R
SPECIFICATIONS
MODEL AVAILABILITY
Coupe
WHEELBASE
2211mm/87.0 inches
LENGTH
4163mm/163.9 inches
WIDTH
1610mm/63.4 inches
HEIGHT
1320mm/52.0 inches
WEIGHT
800kg/1764 pounds
BASE PRICE
Not available
TRACK FRONT
1337mm/52.6 inches
TRACK REAR
1317mm/51.9 inches
WHEELS FRONT
6.0Jx15
WHEELS REAR
7.0Jx15
TIRES FRONT
185-15 radial
TIRES REAR
185-15 radial
CONSTRUCTION
Unitized welded steel
SUSPENSION FRONT
Independent, wishbones, MacPherson struts, longitudinal torsion bars, hydraulic double-action shock absorbers
SUSPENSION REAR
Independent, semi-trailing arms, transverse torsion bars, hydraulic double-action shock absorbers
BRAKES
Discs, 2-piston cast iron fixed calipers
ENGINE TYPE
Horizontally opposed DOHC six-cylinder Typ 901/22
ENGINE DISPLACEMENT
1991cc/121.5CID
BORE AND STROKE
80x66mm/3.15x2.60 inches
HORSEPOWER
210@8000rpm
TORQUE
152lb-ft@6000rpm
COMPRESSION
10.5:1
FUEL DELIVERY
2 Weber 46J carburetors
FINAL DRIVE AXLE RATIO
4.428:1
TOP SPEED
150mph depending on final drive
PRODUCTION
4 prototype, 20 production
1968 911L
For 1968 Porsche could not export the 911S to U.S. markets. With larger intake and exhaust valves, and Weber carburetors tuned slightly rich, the engine did not meet exhaust emissions standards in effect that year. In response, the company created a 911L, for luxus, or “luxury.” Engineers fitted it with a 130-horsepower DIN (148-horsepower SAE) flat six and included every interior feature of the S (as well as its ventilated disc brakes), but packaged in a base model. For Europe the L slipped in between the 911T and 911S. For U.S. customers, this was the top model, and engineers added the EPA’s mandatory air pump. When Porsche closed the books on model year 1968, it had offered 911, 911L, 911S, and 912 coupes and the Targas to its customers. It had assembled a new record of 14,300 cars, known as the A series, and for the first time, six-cylinder production passed the fours. As the company introduced the B series 1969 models, F. A. Porsche received an award at the Paris Auto Salon for “overall aesthetic conception in the creation of a Porsche body.”
The B series brought a significant improvement to 911 handling. Engineers shifted the rear wheels 2.25 inches (57mm) farther back. By lengthening the wheelbase (to 89.3 inches/2,268mm) without stretching the body, they improved weight distribution and handling by effectively transferring some weight to the front wheels. This required new rear suspension trailing arms, and they fitted new half-shaft universal joints to accommodate the greater angle from engine to wheels.
Model year 1969 was significant in other ways. Porsche introduced a new Bosch mechanically fuel-injected 911, the 911E, with 140 horsepower DIN (158 SAE) and a green fan shroud. This car assumed the middle ground the 911L had occupied in 1968. The Bosch system also allowed Porsche to do away with the air pump on its U.S. models, so the 911S returned to the American lineup, now with 170 horsepower DIN (190 SAE). Porsche introduced cast-aluminum crankcases and discontinued the magnesium castings used since the car’s launch.
Emissions regulations stopped Porsche from exporting the 911S model to American customers. The L coupe sold for 21,450DM (roughly $5,376) and $6,790 in the United States.
YEAR
1968
DESIGNATION
911L
SPECIFICATIONS
MODEL AVAILABILITY
Coupe, Targa
WHEELBASE
2211mm/87.0 inches
LENGTH
4163mm/163.9 inches
WIDTH
1610mm/63.4 inches
HEIGHT
1320mm/52.0 inches
WEIGHT
1080kg/2376 pounds
BASE PRICE
$5,375 coupe - $5,729 Targa
TRACK FRONT
1337mm/52.6 inches
TRACK REAR
1317mm/51.9 inches
WHEELS FRONT
5.5Jx15
WHEELS REAR
5.5Jx15
TIRES FRONT
165HR-15 radial
TIRES REAR
165HR-15 radial
CONSTRUCTION
Unitized welded steel
SUSPENSION FRONT
Independent, wishbones, MacPherson struts, longitudinal torsion bars, hydraulic double-action shock absorbers
SUSPENSION REAR
Independent, semi-trailing arms, transverse torsion bars, hydraulic double-action shock absorbers
BRAKES
Discs, 2-piston cast iron fixed calipers
ENGINE TYPE
Horizontally opposed DOHC six-cylinder Typ 901/06
ENGINE DISPLACEMENT
1991cc/121.5CID
BORE AND STROKE
80x66mm/3.15x2.60 inches
HORSEPOWER
130@6100rpm
TORQUE
128lb-ft@4600rpm
COMPRESSION
9.0:1
FUEL DELIVERY
2 Weber 40 IDA carburetors
FINAL DRIVE AXLE RATIO
4.428:1
TOP SPEED
130mph
PRODUCTION
1,169 coupes; 444 Targas
1968 911L Coupe
Porsche expanded its lineup for 1968, adding a 110-horsepower T (for Touring) to replace the base 911, an
d an L (for Luxus or luxury) below the 160 horsepower S. The Typ 901/06 L engine provided buyers with a 130-horsepower engine.
Engineering introduced a hydro-pneumatic, self-adjusting front suspension on the 911E. This system, manufactured by Boge, automatically adjusted to front-end loads as subtle as fuel tank level changes or the addition of luggage for a vacation. Porsche engineers designed the system to incorporate the race-proven ATE disc brake calipers. These accommodated pads that were 50 percent larger than Porsche’s original steel calipers. Finally, in the interest of better front-end weight distribution, Porsche switched a single 12-volt battery to one 6-volt unit beneath each headlight.
1969 912 Coupe
The 912 used Porsche’s Typ 616/36 four-cylinder 1,582cc (96.5-cubic-inch) engine. A four-speed transmission was standard. Acceleration to 200 kilometers per hour took 13.5 seconds.