This is a very special car number 55 of all 930 cars In early spring 1975, Guido Haberthür bought one of the first Porsche Turbo delivered by the factory, chassis 930 570 0023. But instead of driving the car on the road normally, he ended up racing it at the 24 Hours Le Mans 1975 and ended up in an amazing 15th overall place. This was a remarkable performance with a brand new bought nearly stock 1975 3.0-liter Turbo. Today this would hardly be conceivable, in the 1950s it was the rule, and in the 1970s it was certainly the exception. ANTITHESIS TO THE ENERGY CRISIS The new 911 Turbo celebrated its premiere in October 1974, amid the recession and the energy crisis. Some would not have bet a penny on this car, who should buy such an expensive car with a price more than double of a standard 911? But the skeptics were proven wrong. The newcomer was 260 HP strong and weighed 1140 kg. At the booth in Paris men and children pressed their noses flat on the side windows to take a look at the speedometer, which reached up to 300 km / h. 930 NO.13 FROM ROAD TO RACING CAR Herr Haberthür was not only a garage man but also the owner of a racing team with entry rights for the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1975, intended for two 911 Carrera RSR racing cars. Due to money constraints, Haberthür decided to sell one of the RSR vehicles and was now left with one unused starting place. And as it happened to be, the Swiss pilots Claude Haldi, Peter Zbinden, as well as the Frenchman Bernard Béguin stood there without a car. Automobile Club de l'ouest (ACO) had introduced a new "GTX" class for Le Mans, which applied to non-homologated production vehicles. Only a few modifications to the production cars were allowed. Suddenly Haberthür and his team seemed to have a car that was very well suited to this new category. Together with the support of the factory, Haberthür and his team made some necessary modifications to the car. A stronger Turbocharger was equipped and a roll cage screwed Cibié lights onto the hood and fitted golden BBS rims with Michelin tires. A long-distance tank of 100 Liters replaced the series tank. A Vitaloni rear-view mirror mounted on the right improved the visibility for traffic behind them – essential for survival in Le Mans. But on the whole the 911 Turbo was still close to series production. LIKE A FAIRY TALE, BUT IT HAPPENED JUST AS WELL Haldi / Zbinden / Béguin placed the Porsche 930 in 44th out of 55 starting positions. In terms of performance, the 930 was well equipped against many of the 911 Carrera competed, the 930 found itself in the top 20 ranks after just a few laps. The only weak point was the series brakes, which ran too hot. After all, the production Porsche left top-class racing cars like several Lola T292 / 294s behind them and completed 291 laps or around 3900 km in 24 hours. And without any major problems, if you ignore the brakes. The class win and a corresponding cup rounded off the success. In its race report, the Automobile Revue paid tribute to the performance of the 930 team: "Two Swiss teams were successful in the 24-hour race. Haldi / Zbinden / Beguin brought they’ve not yet homologated Porsche Turbo to 15th overall place, so they won in this special category as well: it was a strict standard Porsche Turbo, but the brakes did not meet the requirements. The front brake discs had to be replaced. One year after the first 930s had left the factory, in early 1976 Porsche introduced the 934 and later the legendary 935. The 935 Introduced in late 1976 as the factory racing version of the 911 (930) Turbo went on to win the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans overall, and other major endurance races, including Sebring, Daytona, and the 1,000 km Nürburgring. Until 1984 the 935 had won over 150 races worldwide. “Without the 3.0-liter Turbo, Porsche’s turbocharged racing story would be a shadow of what it is today and, perhaps, Porsche would never have achieved the reputation of being the groundbreaking, technology-drivena manufacturer that it still trades on today. https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/0420/open-roads--the-european-summer-auction/lots/r0007-1975-porsche-911-turbo/913721
... View more
