Whether you’re a veteran star of the silver screen, or wannabe racer hoping to catch a break with the big teams, the aspiration to acquire one car has remained the same since for almost six decades. Tom Cruise, Miley Cyrus, Bill Gates, Kendall Jenner, Steve McQueen, Jochen Rindt, all these names share one marque in common, and it’s the latter who we focus on today as we recount the remarkable story of this 1967 Porsche 911 S available through RM Sotheby’s Private Sales.
During the 1960s, if you were brave enough to get behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car, it was understood you were willing to drive just about anything with four wheels and an engine. Safety was third, sometimes fourth on the list of requirements during the sport’s most deadly era, when drivers and teams consistently went to and beyond the limit of control in a bid to come out on top. For a young Jochen Rindt, his rise to the highest level of motorsport was as fast as the cars he would eventually drive, commencing in 1961 aged just 19-year-old, when he entered his first race in his grandmother’s own Simca Montlhéry. From these simple beginnings, it would take Rindt just four years to line up alongside racing royalty like Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark to name just a few. Although freshly faced among a grid of his heroes, Rindt and his Cooper Climax were well matched, earning him his first World Championship points during the 1965 season.
Like so many drivers during this time, the world’s most dangerous motorsport simply wasn’t high octane enough, Rindt would often be found competing in endurance races and lower formula ranks to scratch that speed itch. During the 1965 season with Cooper, Rindt would claim victory at Le Mans with Masten Gregory in a N.A.R.T.-entered Ferrari 250 LM and would eventually find himself in talks with Porsche. The Austrian would go on to race factory-entered 906, 907, and 910 prototypes, as well as a privately-owned 908/02, which led to the wonderful 911 S offered here today. In recognition of his achievements with the marque, Porsche gifted Rindt this Bahama Yellow example that would see heavy use by the Austrian. As he blasted from country to country during his multi-discipline race calendar, this 911 was often seen parked among the race team trucks, no doubt sporting a plethora of insect splatters.
By 1969, Rindt had moved to Lotus, and with it came a new set of wheels as a perk of the position. Some would argue it's just as cool, but the Ford Mustang provided by his incoming engine suppliers might have felt like something of a downgrade for this Formula 1 star. While Rindt’s time with the 911 S had come to an end, this vibrant sports car's life was just getting started. Returning to Porsche Salzburg’s care in late 1968, the car was prepared for rallying and assigned to veteran Kenyan driver Joginder Singh, known to many as “The Flying Sikh”, whose first outing with the car was the 40th Internationale Österreichische Alpenfahrt, in May of 1969. This incredible turnaround, from a stylish road cruiser to rugged rally weapon, is testament to just how versatilee 911 truly was during this period, with this do-it-all ethos remaining unchanged even today. With Singh behind the wheel and co-driver Peter Jakl, the talented pair were pitted against the likes of Hannu Mikkola, Simo Lampinen, and Paddy Hopkirk, but despite three top ten stage finishes, their rally ended in retirement.
Following this rocky induction into rallying, the trio bounced back well and claimed a number of podium positions across several gruelling endurance rallies, before being acquired by an Austrian rally team who continued to use this 911 S in a number of events all around Europe. After its second life as a rally car began to come to a close, the car was passed around various Austrian owners and eventually fell into disrepair and was even converted to resemble a later G-Series 911, which was not uncommon for early 911s at the time.
Thankfully for all involved, this 911's incredible early history was well documented and remained with the car, eventually falling into the hands of the noted Porsche historian and author Dr. Georg Konradsheim. In 2011, the car would reach its current owner, who would set about returning this incredible piece of history back to its former, road-going glory. The car was entrusted to an Austrian marque specialist for an exhaustive nut-and-bolt restoration to original factory specification, spanning two and a half years and at a cost in excess of €200,000. During this process it was returned to its original colours of Bahama Yellow over a black leatherette interior, a combination now celebrated as one of the very best in Porsche’s vast colour palette. Great emphasis was placed on retaining as many of the car’s original components as possible, while utilizing new old stock parts where absolutely required. The result is not only a wonderful piece of Porsche history, and a fine representation of the brand’s early 911s, but also a car steeped in unrivalled motorsport history, being owned and used regularly by Formula One’s only posthumous World Champion. For those reasons alone, this Porsche 911 S would make for a worthy addition to any Stuttgart lover’s collection!
Richmond, 28 Mar
