- 1973 Porsche 911 ‘Turbo’ concept to appear at Hampton Court Palace’s Concours of Elegance this summer.
- Silver coupe built from a 1973 2.4 S made its global debut at the 1973 Frankfurt Motor Show.
- Turbo engine wasn’t ready for ’73 show so unblown flat-six motor was fitted with mock-up turbo made of wood.
This year Porsche is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 911 Turbo, which was revealed in late 1974, entered production in February 1975 and has been a mainstay of the lineup ever since. But the Turbo story starts a year earlier with two silver 911s. One was a narrow-arch, but turbo-equipped Carrera given to Ferdinand Porsche’s daughter, Louise Piech, and still owned by Porsche, and the other was this stunning 911 Turbo concept.
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Fifty-one years on from its unveiling at the 1973 Frankfurt Motor show, the 911 Turbo concept will be on display again, this time at Hampton Court Palace’s Concours of Elegance just outside of London, England. These fresh images show the now restored car dressed in silver paint with ‘Turbo’ graphics over the rear quarters, ‘Porsche’ lettering on the doors and white Fuchs alloys shod with Dunlop Racing rubber, the name picked out in white on the side (hey, it was the 1970s). Archive images prove that’s exactly how it looked in the fall of 1973.
Related: Watch Every Generation Of 911 Turbo Compete In A Drag Race
The concept, chassis number 9113300157, originally a 2.4 S, looks much tougher, and less GT-like, than the production 911 Turbo that would follow because at this point Porsche was still planning to make another raw racer for the street. With its fiberglass front and rear bumpers, the first whaletail, massive fenders and front-mounted oil cooler, it could be easily mistaken for Porsche’s 1974 RSR racer or its roadgoing brother, the 3.0 RS, whose bodywork and aero treatment the concept previewed.
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And the concept had something in common with those cars beyond the way it looked, because despite being billed as a Turbo, the original show car was actually naturally aspirated. The real engine apparently wasn’t ready in time so Porsche dressed an atmo six up with a fake turbocharger made of painted wood, or so the story goes.
After it had done the initial round of shows, the concept was used to test some pre-production RSR parts and in 1975 was spotted at the factory by Australia-based racer and Porsche importer, Alan Hamilton, who was himself looking for an RSR. Hamilton raced the car a few times in Oz before passing it on, the Turbo eventually making its way to the U.S., then returning to Europe in 2016. Now in motor show-worthy condition and fitted with a real Turbo engine, the concept will be on display at Hampton Court from August 30 to September 1.
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