This Porsche race car could become the most expensive 911 ever sold

An early-1970s Porsche 911 race car could become the most expensive to be sold in the model’s history, providing it sells at the top end of its estimated price when it goes to auction this weekend.

Listed by UK auction house Bonhams, this Porsche 911 Carrera RSR was built to race at the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, finishing fourth in the 1973 edition behind three dedicated ‘sports-prototype’ race cars.

This particular Porsche Carrera RSR – known within the Porsche team as ‘R7’ – is believed to be just one of three factory-backed examples surviving today.

Powered by a 3.0-litre flat-six engine, the Porsche reportedly produced about 224kW but weighed close to 900kg – a featherweight compared to similar racing cars today.

The 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR is set apart from its later successors by its distinctive ‘Mary Stuart’ rear wing – named after the former Queen of Scotland who wore a unique collar – though it is finished in the iconic Martini racing livery.

After being raced in Europe throughout 1973 and 1974, R7 was exported to Mexico by owner and racer Hector Rebaque, where it was reportedly damaged in a vehicle trailer while being transported.

An Italian collector – Massimo Balliva – later purchased the Porsche and privately stored it for more than 30 years, with a restoration carried out in France around 2009 or 2010.

Following its sale to a new owner in the US, the car was involved in a legal battle concerning its identity – as another individual claimed to own ‘R7’ – until the case was settled in May 2023, with the owner of the other Porsche forced to cease claiming his car was the real deal.

To prove this example is the real Carrera RSR ‘R7’, former Porsche works team manager and senior engineer Norbert Singer was enlisted to inspect the vehicle, positively identifying it as the genuine ex-racer.

With this history in mind, Bonhams has estimated the 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR could sell for anywhere between £3.75 million and £5.75 million – equivalent to $7.35 million to $11.28 million in Australian currency.

If the higher-end figure is reached, it will become the most expensive Porsche 911 ever sold at auction – eclipsing the 1998 Porsche 911 GT1 Strassenversion homologation special which sold for $US5.665 million ($US7.065M/$AU10.9M when adjusted for inflation) in 2017.

However, the auction record for any Porsche will likely not be beaten for some time, after a 1970 Porsche 917K – chassis 917-024, the star car of Steve McQueen’s Le Mans film – went for a hammer price of $US14 million (almost $US17.5M/$AU27M adjusted for inflation) at the same auction in 2017.

The Porsche 911 Carrera RSR ‘R7’ will go under the hammer at the Goodwood Revival Collectors’ Motor Cars and Automobilia auction, which opens on 9 September 2023.