RS Porsche 911s: You Know You Want To...

Take time-out to peruse some hotshoe Porsches with PH

By Riggers / Tuesday, 3 August 2010 / Loading comments

Most of us can only dream about owning a

, reckons Adam Towler and – well - you can’t argue with him because he’s right.

But magnificent though the GT2 RS may be, you don’t have to bemoan the fact that you aren’t one of the lucky 500 owners.

You don’t even have to have car funds that stretch to the £170k you would need to get your backside behind the steering wheel of a GT2 RS to have RS-flavoured Porsche fun. Because there are plenty of other RS-badged Porsches out there. And you can find them in your favourite classified section (that’s the PH classifieds, by the way…)

Juicy offers range from the classic (and deeply desirable) 1973 2.7 ‘duck tail’ RS all the way through to the 2007 Gen1 997 GT3 RS. There are even quite a few Gen2 GT3 RSs out there in PH land, though for the moment most of those are still commanding a chunky premium over the £105k list price.

But if you’re looking for a bit more of a bargain, check out the RS on these beauties. And yes, we know you know we know you want to - so aren't you glad we're here to help?

1973 911 Carrera 2.7 RS ‘Duck tail’

The car that effectively begat the whole RS lineage has been almost unbearably desirable ever since it was launched – every one of the 500 originally planned were sold at the 1972 Paris motor show, with 50 of those going on the first day.

Eventually Porsche built 1580 2.7 RSs, but they are rare as, er, duck teeth on the open market and, should you spot one, chances are it’ll have a price tag of at least £150k.

There are some quite convincing replicas around, however, such as this one, based on a 1979 911 SC, up for £36,995.

964 RS

£120k, but only 2965 miles...

The 964 RS is quite a track weapon, but a notoriously uncompromising beast to live with day to day, a particular problem being its rock-hard ride – part of its track-oriented tweaks was to drop it by 40mm.

This 260bhp hardcore chap came without electric windows or electric seats, air-con, a stereo, or much in the way of sound deadening (although a Touring version with a few more creature comforts was also available.

Prices seem to range widely, from £54k for a fairly average 964 RS to a gut-wrenching £120,000 for a right-hook car with just 3000 miles on the odo.

993 Carrera RS

The 1995 911 Carrera RS might look like quite a modest beast compared with the spoilered and stickered beasts that succeeded it but, as one of the last iterations of the air-cooled 911, the 993 commands a fair bit of respect – and a hefty price tag.

It might look like an everyday 911 save for a fixed rear spoiler, a reworked front bumper, flared wheelarches and a pair of understated side skirts, but it means business. There are thicker anti-roll bars, cross-drilled and ventilated discs from the 993 Turbo, as well as seam-welded body panels, thinner glass, no rear seats and an aluminium bonnet.

When it was new, the 911 Carrera RS commanded a price tag of £68,495. But fewer than 50 were made in right-hand drive, and even LHD cars will still set you back more than the car’s original list price. We found a left-hook £49k-mile 993 RS in black on sale for £80k, and one with 45k miles up for £83k. The only right-hand-drive car we came up with was this, for a cool £100,000 - and that has been sold...

996 GT3 RS

Just as the air-cooled 993 is a more desirable prospect than the water-cooled 996, so the used values of the 996 GT3 RS are somewhat softer.

Despite the fact that Porsche imported only 113 examples of the GT3 RS, you should be able to find a clean example of the 381bhp RennSport for less than the price of a brand-new Carrera.

If you’re keen on a spot of track-hooning, then the 996 GT3 RS, with its polycarbonate rear window, carbon fibre bonnet and rear wing, half roll cage and optional carbon-ceramic brakes might just be the car for you…

997 GT3 RS (first generation)

Not quite the real deal, but only £70k

… Of course, if you really want some on-track fun, you want the first iteration of the 997 GT3 RS.

This will get you 409bhp-worth of flat six, as much outlandish track-car graphics and wing as you can deal with, a 0-60mph time of a scant four seconds and a top speed that’s knocking on the door of 200mph (well, 193mph; it’s got quite a light knock).

You will have to shell out a bit more of the green stuff to get a 997 over a 996, mind – the cheapest 997 GT3 RS (spec) we’ve found is up for £70k (and that's a re-creation not an original), while £86k is far from inconceivable. And you’ll have to put up with the fact that the latest gen 2 997 GT3 has just come out…