Rare factory 1967 Porsche 911 R sells for more than $3m at RM Sotheby’s Auction

Porsche rarely, if ever, follows any other automaker’s lead, but Colin Chapman’s maxim of “add lightness” was taken to heart by Zuffenhausen’s former motorsport director, Ferdinand Piëch. He tasked his engineers with shaving as much weight as possible from the 1967 911 S coupe with the goal of competing in the FIA’s GT two-litre category. The resulting 911 R proved a brilliant racing and rally machine. Under Piëch’s supervision, four prototypes were constructed, after which, Porsche commissioned coachbuilder, Karl Baur, to build another twenty examples in a numbered production series (118990001R-118990020R).

This example, chassis 11899006R, left the factory on 26th October 1967, bound for Paris-based Porsche dealer, Sonauto, and then to its first owner, Ferdinand Schigler, who was already an accomplished rallyist, competing in Renaults and Peugeots with some success. By the time of licensing his new Porsche on 30th October 1967, Schigler had installed a quartet of driving lamps and entered the 1967 Tour de Corse as No.96 with Gérard Couzian drafted in as his co-driver. Schigler also entered the year’s Criterium des Cevennes and, in 1968, he used his 911 R in five rallies: the Lyon-Charbonnières-Stuttgart Solitude, the Ballon d’Alsace, the Course de Côte de Fribourg, the Rally Lorraine — where he placed fourth overall — and the Course de Côte de Vuillafans.

Today, the 911 R is one of the most sought-after air-cooled Porsches, but surviving examples rarely change hands. Making this exquisitely restored example even more desirable, it remains equipped with its original engine. Supplied with a large folio of period rallying photographs and eligible for many of the world’s historic motorsport events, the car attracted a winning bid of $3,360,000 at RM Sotheby’s Monterey sale.