Engine No. 6400409

Few factory-backed, yet independent Porsche race teams can rival the success and importance of Brumos Racing. The Jacksonville, Florida-based team is well known for their American-inspired red, white and blue livery, decades of racing success spanning the 1960s through the 2010s, and versatility to race in various series including the 24-hour endurance racing classics, Trans-Am, Can-Am, and more. Many would suggest Brumos Racing's most famous 24-hour endurance win took place at Daytona where the team battled with a near factory-fresh 911 Carrera RSR among pure prototypes and seasoned GT competitors in the first race of the 1973 World Championship for Makes.

Against a field filled with formidable factory-backed prototypes from Matra and Ferrari, along with Roger Penske's equally potent factory-supported Carrera RSR, Brumos Racing's comparatively production-based Porsche 911 Carrera RSR emerged as one of the great underdog stories in endurance racing history. While the purpose-built prototypes gradually succumbed to mechanical trouble and attrition, Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood drove the lightweight RSR with remarkable consistency and speed, proving that Porsche's newest GT contender could not only challenge the world's best sports racers, but defeat them outright.

The overall win is a landmark result for numerous reasons. It was the first Daytona 24 Hours victory for Brumos, a team that would also triumph in 1975, 1978, and again in 2009. It was the first overall international endurance win for the Porsche 911-the beginning of more than its fair share with another by Brumos at the Sebring 12 Hours just a month later and then again by the Martini & Rossi-backed Porsche factory team at the Targa Florio. Many within the Porsche community regard this GT racing success and the end of an era “long-hood” 911 road-car lineup that included the Carrera RS 2.7 as an unrepeatable golden-era for the Stuttgart sports car manufacturer. No doubt then that when those so inclined plan a proper and correct vintage racing 911, thoughts often turn to the evocative livery of Brumos Racing and the 1973 Carrera RSR.

Just as intertwined as Brumos Racing and Porsche are, so too are Porsche and Francis Tuthill Ltd. The highly-regarded Tuthill name has been associated with the Porsche marque as far back as the late 1970s. Founded by Francis Tuthill and today led by son Richard, the family-run operation first earned recognition preparing Porsche rally cars, including work associated with the Rothmans-era 911 SC/RS program, before evolving into one of the world's foremost specialists for historic competition, restoration, and bespoke air-cooled 911s.

While Tuthill has made its name in competitive stage rallies with the 911, they are also accomplished restorers of the model along with their race builds and track support expertise. For those based in England and on the continent looking to build a vintage racing 911 at the highest levels, few can compete with the British outfit and for many, the choice is simple-it is a 1973 911 Carrera RSR built by Tuthill or nothing.

This FIA HTP-specification Carrera RSR build by Tuthill began in 2015 with a 1973 Porsche 911 T Coupe. The Tuthill specification sheet, on file and available for review, offers a mouthwatering view of the RSR Tribute that began with a stripped and blasted shell fully seam-welded and with strengthening to race specification. Furthermore, the shell, finished in classic Grand Prix White, features a full-spec weld-in roll cage with HANS bar and properly positioned race harness mounts.

Rather than recreating the early 2.8-liter Carrera RSR specification, the builders opted for a fully-rebuilt HTP accurate aluminum-cased 3.0-liter by BS Motorsport with a period-correct mechanical fuel injection and slide-valve induction. The 3.0-liter certainly looks the part with its red plastic velocity stacks, properly routed twin-plug ignition cable spaghetti, lack of soundproofing, lightweight Kevlar engine “tin”, and correct finishes throughout including the dark grey cooling fan. Transmitting the competition-prepped flat-six's power to the tarmac is a period-correct Type 915 transmission also fully rebuilt by BS Motorsport with race ratios and fitted with a Tuthill Porsche limited-slip differential.

While the potent drivetrain was built, the completed RSR shell with its appropriately widened wheel arches, composite bumpers, and lightweight panels-including the RSR's iconic rear “ducktail” spoiler-was outfitted with an impressive laundry list of competition specification components. Underpinning the build are thicker 22- and 27-mm torsion bars and 22-mm anti-roll bars front and rear, adjustable EXE-TC shock absorbers with rear helper springs all set to a reduced ride height. The lowered ride height and perfect period RSR rake are complemented by correct RSR-finished Fuchs-style wheels that frame cross-drilled and ventilated brakes clamped by finned aluminum calipers, of the type famously sourced from the all-conquering Porsche 917.

While the paperwork reveals the builder first favored the factory's own Martini Racing colors, it is clear that the Grand Prix White RSR begged for Brumos' red and blue stripes and famous race number 59. Furthermore, the race livery features 1973-correct sponsorship from Kendall motor oil, Garrard record players, and others. In fact, from the outside, there is very little to suggest this isn't the genuine article that sat on the grid at Daytona in 1973!

The RSR's interior is a mix of period correct and modern where appropriate. The vintage 1973-appropriate dashboard is set with a suite of four VDO gauges with the clock removed for a driver cooling vent all framed by a three-spoke Momo Prototipo with a quick-release hub. The pilot sits in a thoroughly modern composite Racetech seat with a large protective halo, operating a race-spec pedal box that features twin brake master cylinders with adjustable bias, a modified shifter, and a Lifeline fire suppression system should the need arise. Otherwise, the interior is light and spartan as expected by any race build expected to be competitive in vintage racing.

Completed in 2016, the RSR was thoroughly tested by Tuthill at Silverstone with its setup refined and spec sheets created for its torque numbers and consumables. Perhaps most importantly it received its coveted FIA Historic Technical Passport (HTP) in December 2016 which remains valid until 31 December 2026. As is well-known, the FIA HTP confirms the RSR's eligibility to compete in FIA-sanctioned events for historic vehicles opening numerous opportunities for those interested in campaigning the RSR in many of the finest vintage events across the globe including Masters Historic Racing, Peter Auto, Goodwood, and more.

After an exciting 2017 season spent competing in the Masters Historic Sports Car Championship with maintenance by Porsche specialists Marque 21, the RSR's MFI 3.0-liter flat-six and gearbox returned to the workshops of BS Motorsport in 2019 for complete overhauls with the engine receiving a rebuilt MFI pump by Neil Bainbridge. Marque 21 carried out the drivetrain reinstallation and a full re-sorting of the car. At approximately the same time Topaz Detailing removed the exterior graphics, conducted a level two cleaning of the exterior paint and installed a full bespoke paint protection film treatment.

Vintage motorsport builds based on the longhood 911 are not uncommon, yet those completed to this level of FIA HTP specification, with the look, feel, and sound of the genuine article, are certainly few and far between. It is clear that those who have built, serviced, and raced this Porsche have done so with reverence to the brand and model-so storied within international endurance racing since its debut in 1965. The earliest and most successful of these 911 entrants must be Brumos Racing and so it is natural that both the RSR and the Brumos Racing colors would reunite in a road-legal track build by Tuthill, one of the best in the business.