Porsche 968 Turbo RS: PH Heroes
In this anniversary year we meet the fastest and rarest of all the transaxle Porsches
You may be aware of the 968 Turbo S, a super-limited production evolution of the Clubsport built and sold by Porsche's racing department under the leadership of Jurgen Barth and Gerd Schmid. Described as representing "the new GT class generation" and "destined for both racing activities and public street use" just 14 were built, identifiable by the two small NACA ducts on the bonnet and a bigger, adjustable rear wing.
It's a 968, but not as we know it
Suffice it to say it's enough to make the astonishing £45K asked for the 944 Turbo we featured as our Hero and the ever hardening prices for 968 Clubsports seem trivial. Here's why it deserves to be held in such esteem...
Rare groove
Rarity will always arouse the attention of the collectors and add a zero or two to the price, but the Turbo RS has substance to back that up too. Rumours persist it was quietly canned when found to be quicker than contemporary 964 3.8 RSRs. This would certainly fit with the perception that Porsche was constantly having to manage the 'problem' of its junior transaxle cars being potentially quicker and easier to exploit than its rear-engined icon. There may be some truth in that but the reality would seem to be more people wanted to race 911s than they did 968s, no matter how much more effective the latter might prove to be.
Not many concessions to road use in here!
For the Turbo S Porsche ditched the four-valve head used on the naturally-aspirated 968 Clubsport and instead fitted a two-valve one based on that used in the 944. Augmented by a single KKK compressor boosting at 1bar the oversquare 3.0-litre four-cylinder drove through a conventional six-speed manual with longer ratios and an aggressive limited-slip differential with a 75 per cent locking ratio on both power and overrun. Wheels and brakes came from the 911 Turbo S, ABS and power steering retained to help gentlemen drivers stay the course in endurance racing.
Ready for action
Designed in mind of the ADAC GT Cup the RS took things further still, coming as standard with a fully welded-in roll cage, plumbed in fire extinguisher system, 43-litre safety tank and six-point harnesses. Spring and damper rates were revised again and the wheels went up from 8J and 10J 18-inch items to 9.5J and 11J ones to contain an increase in power to a restricted 337hp. One car raced at Le Mans in 1994 but was forced to retire, the two others built for the ADAC GT series also seeing track action but never quite having the chance to deliver on the expectation suggested by the spec.
As much power as a 964 RSR before the mods...
Not that you're in any doubt about that when you look around it in detail. It's got two seats but the passenger footwell is occupied by the boxes for the Motronic ECUs and opening the glovebox simply reveals the cross-brace from the roll cage rather than space to stash your Haribo. A bare gear knob - apparently from a 962 - sprouts from the centre tunnel and column stalk appropriated for manual overboost control and switch on the dash for the intercooler spray hint at the improvised, one-off nature of the build. It's all beautifully done though, fit and finish above average for a race car and indicative of the thoroughness Porsche's motorsport department puts into all its cars.
A rare and exciting old Porsche that isn't a 911?!
Given the nature of the car experience of it in action is limited to standing roadside to bag a few hurried snaps on a lane close to Gmund's showroom. And however effective a tool it might be, the uncultured blare it makes from its totally unsilenced exhaust perhaps offers a sense of why well-heeled privateers might have stuck with their RSRs. The sound is raw, brutal and pure race car, with no thought to pleasing harmonics. It's undeniably impressive though, the four-cylinder bark overlaid with a whistle of boost and crackle of overrun as the car runs to and fro for the camera. It's certainly appropriate to the car's intent too; this is a 968 built to do one thing and one thing only.
It carries it off with some style though. All the transaxle Porsches carry a lingering sense of unfulfilled promise forever in the shadow of the 911. But in this RS you get just a taste of the potential Barth and his colleagues knew was there but were never able to fully exploit. There's more than a hint of mischief about it too - the final flicked vees from a downtrodden subordinate after years of toeing the line to its elders and supposedly betters.
And the reflected glory of this rare, valuable and thrillingly raucous transaxle Porsche has the potential to finally drag its contemporaries out of the shadows and permit them to stand shoulder to shoulder with their rear-engined equivalents. That would be a legacy to celebrate and a fitting conclusion to this anniversary year.
Porsche 968 Turbo RS engine sound
PORSCHE 968 TURBO RS
Engine: 2,990cc 4-cyl turbo
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 337@5,600rpm*
Torque (lb ft): 369@3,000rpm*
0-62mph: < 5.0sec*
Top speed: c. 175mph*
Weight: 1,350kg* (DIN, not including driver)
On sale: 1993
Price new: Lots
Price now: Even more
*Officially published outputs for standard 968 Turbo RS
Thanks to Gmund cars for supplying the car and assistance with this feature
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Am sure its not a bad car, pretty fantastic even but I am guessing the price is suitably ridiculous for a 968 with a half 944 Turbo Half 968/S2 engine.
Dan
Car looks like a proper collector find but sadly the reason why the 968 turbo cars are all so rare is a lack of interest in them when new. This one though mega and thanks PH for highlighting these cars.
Dan
Example - 968 Turbo can be a 968 CS for £20k + the Speedline wheels, rear wing and turbo parts equating to another £20k. So an example with genuine Porsche parts is 10% of the value of an original chassis number car. Similar story with a 964 RS etc. Try turning a Ferrari 308 into a 288 GTO
Example - 968 Turbo can be a 968 CS for £20k + the Speedline wheels, rear wing and turbo parts equating to another £20k. So an example with genuine Porsche parts is 10% of the value of an original chassis number car. Similar story with a 964 RS etc. Try turning a Ferrari 308 into a 288 GTO
I totally get you, for a mere mortal with a 50 grand budget they can recreate this car and probably improve on it with more modern parts but that set of parts was not signed off and sold by Porsche in 1990 something.
there is kudos and satisfaction in owning the real deal for some, even though in reality its just a parts bin special really.
Then this gets transcended, it becomes a currency almost in its own right, if you are worth a billion its small change, another half a million quid isnt really very interesting in that scenario but owning rare items is, then, sell it on when you get bored of it (if you have ever actually set eyes on it let alone driven it) and make a profit on it.
Porsche arent making any more of these, they have a big name, so rare editions multiply the value, rare comics and baseball cards make hundreds of thousands which seems weirder to me but it all depends where you are comign from what seems a good idea or deal.
Transaxle? Why not "front engined" oh wait, its another esoteric term to use in the pub and impress folk.
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