The original 911ST has an interesting history, probably more so due to its genuine competition lineage. During the era of early 911 production, Porsche were continuously developing their road cars for competition, and with great success. Keen to see customers using their cars in the same manner, they created a series of performance accessories that could be ordered directly from the factory to upgrade a standard car either after, or during production. In 1969 a race-oriented version of the 911 was launched known internally as the ST (the name stood for Sport Touring). The original was based on the 911 T with a 2.3 litre engine, whilst the later 2.5 was usually based on the 911S and internally known as the SR, however, most are referred to as a 2.5 ST today.
Interestingly, unlike the ‘73 RS that followed, there is no particular defining characteristic for an S/T, each could be made with different combinations of racing components offered by Porsche to suit the intended use. Whether it was for rally or race, your new 911 could be equipped accordingly.
S cams would usually be preferred for rallying, whilst peaky 906 cams could be specified for the most powerful short-stroke, twin-plug, fuel-injected 2.5 motors, often producing circa 270BHP+ at 8000 rpm depending on spec and application (track vs rally for example). Impressive stuff for the early Seventies. There were also a number of gearbox options with ratios for different scenarios, as well as plastic and steel fuel tanks, and a host of different other upgrades for racers around the world, and all were detailed together with setup guides for the 911 in the `Sports Purposes` booklet. Sometimes these special components were installed by the factory, and in other cases, they were installed retrospectively by dealers or racing teams. By the early 70s, this allowed privateer teams to compete with effectively works specification cars. Some early examples could be seen sporting Minilite rear wheels instead of the classic 911 Fuchs alloys, and most S/Ts featured a number of thinner steel, aluminium or fibreglass parts to keep weight down, often in different widths and profiles too.
That’s what makes it so hard to define an S/T. It’s not a specific set of components, rather a combination of special components. These were race cars that were extensively modified and rebuilt in period without any thought toward their status as future collectables and as such each car is unique.
Originally supplied by AFN in the UK, this matching numbers 1971 911T remained in largely original specification but for a restoration in the late 90s, sold to specialist Dave Dennett of DSD Motorwerks in 2010 for conversion into a period specification ST. During the build, any modifications he made were period correct, his aim being to acquire FIA competition papers when completed. This included the steel arches being replicated from period photographs, hand beaten to accommodate 7” x 15” front and 9” x 15” rear wheels, and a lightweight interior being fitted. The original matching numbers engine was retained, however currently fitted, is another engine built from a genuine un- numbered 7R magnesium case. This engine was fully built around these cases to short stroke ST specification. This included the following: Cases shuffle pinned and gas flowed, 2.2 crank 66mm, Porsche S nitride rods, JE pistons, Mahle barrels, twin plug heads with new guides 3 angle valve seat and enlarged ports, titanium valve springs, new race valves, ST twin plug distributor, S specification cams, uprated and rebuilt MFI pump, uprated oil pump, 1”5/8 race headers and lightweight aluminium flywheel. The brakes were upgraded with aluminium RS spec callipers and vented discs all round and period Koni adjustable dampers and uprated roll bars were fitted in addition to the rebuilt suspension. A lightweight clutch was fitted and a Tuthill adjustable pedal box. Wheels are 7×15” refurbished Fuchs on the front and 9”x15” Minilites were fitted on the rear. Also fitted were upgraded Bosch twin fuel pumps, plumbed in fire suppression system and Schroth 5 point harnesses.
As is often the case with these projects, it was sold before being totally finished to our vendor in 2019, who has now continued the journey of personalisation to the tune of an additional £150,000, a car than now ‘owes him’ £275,000 and as he states to create this car would be in excess of £350,000 and involve a 2-4 year wait given the names involved in the build.
In his tenure the car has been fully rebuilt and designed by Oshe Automotive. A testament and recognition of their skills is reflected in the fact that Oshe Automotive were the runners up in Historic Motor awards this year and Porsche specialists. The owner of Oshe is a Porsche aficionado himself and owns his own 1972 hotrod build which inspired our client to commission them given the quality of that car. Oshe were commissioned with the full rebuild and with getting the car fully FIA certified. The engine and drivetrain work were contracted to Neil Bainbridge/BS Motorsport, Bodywork to Normandale's and a raft of other well know Motorsport and Porsche specialists were also involved under the watchful eye of the MD of Oshe Automotive.
Our vendor ‘went the whole nine yards’ as it was never intended to be sold, Oshe started with a full strip of the bodyshell, before utilising the skills of Tuthill, CageCraft and Normandale to complete the technical requirements and preparation of the bodyshell for rebuild. The stripped shell was placed onto a Cellette jig and sent to CageCraft for one of their full FIA ROPST510 weld in roll cages and further period correct FIA spec chassis/suspension mount strengthening being carried out at the same time. Tuthills then water blasted the underside before the top was media blasted by Normandales who then carried out the remaining metalwork and bodywork, including colour changing the car back to its original hue of Signal Orange which matches the Porsche Certificate of Authenticity which accompanies the car. Additional engine and transmission work was carried out by BS Motorsport, including the fitment of a new LSD and Centre Gravity and String Theory provided a fast road suspension set up. This was in his own words a full open cheque book build regardless of collecting a 2010 restored car, the brief was perfection thus a start again philosophy and a car he states is All steel no filler body where our vendor wanted to see it back to metal and a nut and bolt restoration with his own eyes (and cash!) to be 100% confident in the car and the build.
If applying for FIA papers, you need a specific class and build the car to correct period specification, as this is a genuine 911 2.2 T upgraded to 2.3 Litres as in period, the class for G2/GTS21 Competition GT car was chosen. Both Jurgan Barth and Jeff Moyes assisted Oshe Automotive in gaining the FIA HTP accreditation and there are ~seven years left on the HTP papers. The car is FIA HTP papered as a 1971 Porsche 911 2.3 S/T G2/GTS21 Competition GT car a hard thing to achieve!
Once the FIA papers had been acquired, and after inevitable covid delays Oshe Automotive continued with the personalisation programme. Our vendor decided that due to this and the arrival of a second child the priorities had changed, coupled with the feeling it was too nice and in show condition to get peppered on a track straight away he decided to change to a fast road/touring specification however, importantly all had to be completed in a manner for easy reversal. Rather than for example burying parts in wheel arches such as the air conditioning condenser, instead a custom removeable bracket was installed in the front which was ruthlessly expensive at nearly £10,000 just for the aircon and associated parts (e.g. high output WASP alternator etc) and numerous other design elements to ensure all modifications are easily reversible. This also included fitting steel bonnet and bumpers in place of the fibreglass items with swaged ST bumper cut outs, hidden Bluetooth iPhone controllable sound system, electric heater together with full sound proofing. They also trimmed the interior to exact requirements including additional padding for the period design D`Eser seats, a custom German square weave carpet set made for the car and a full Muirhead leather interior. In all, over 2,500 hours went into creating this car to the owner’s exact specification and a car he references as a GT3 touring spec S/T. To revert to papered specification we are informed you would need to put the Fibre glass front bumper back on (comes with the car but will need collecting), remove the air conditioning, carpet, audio, sound deadening and take out glove box and a few parts of interior trim, estimated at a couple of days work.
Sitting today on 7” Fuchs and 9” Minlites, this 911 looks purposeful. The twin plug heads, S spec GE60 cams, and correctly set up MFI ensure it pulls eagerly low down and sounds fantastic as the revs rise as only an MFI engine on headers can do. The rebuilt 901 gearbox with a new LSD and road biased set up, together with the TB 15 Michelin rubber, ensure this is a friendly and confidence inspiring companion and with a fully sound insulated interior, surprisingly civilised too. After the install Neil Bainbridge/BS Motorsport have fettled the engine and gearbox to get the car set up perfectly, it has been treated to all new injectors, custom hard lines in the engine to maximise power under load, cold start system (no choke on ST engines), fully rebuilt gearbox with high-speed ratios, LSD, and billet intermediate plates to name but a few items attend to by BS Motorsport and Oshe. The engine is ‘Fresh’ with less than 1,500 road miles, and older rolling road figures prior to Neil's work on the engine show ~230bhp at the wheels to about 260bhp at the crank and we believe that maybe a little conservative now. The car is now run in and our vendor states is running beautifully with all fettling of a new build done and shaken down over the 1,500 road miles since completion.
Offered with a history file detailing the build with photographs and documents in a box file full of provenance of the car now and back to the 80’s. The matching numbers 2.2 engine is stored and this and the fibreglass bumper for FIA papers comes with the car, the new owner will need to collect or delivery can be arranged at their cost.
The modified Porsche scene is dominated by Singer with its reimagined ST built on a later 964, Tuthill with their interpretation the 911K, in an area that ever popular, enhancing original cars to a period upgraded specification this example sits neatly offering a buyer the opportunity to rub shoulders with the bespoke ‘resto mods’ like Singer. If you are looking for a genuine period car with period `Sports Purposes` upgrades, together with a nicer interior than a stripped-out racer, then this car certainly has a good deal more kudos than a backdated example. If you want to take things a bit more seriously remove the niceties, put the fibreglass panels back on, install a pair of current FIA seats and this car will be ready for the Tour Auto or Modena Cento Ore without the three to four year wait for the build of a car and the expense of over £300k to build the car today. If there was ever having your cake and eating this is it.. Consigned by Mathew Priddy
