Apparently it’s hell being a Formula 1 driver.
What with all that racing around the world, debriefing with engineers, dealing with stupid questions from journalists, glad-handing sponsors, helicoptering to parties where fancy women rub up against you for no reason at all, and kissing babies at supermarket openings, there’s no time for a man to drive his own damn car.
As evidence, we present this Porsche 911 that McLaren F1 driver and former F1 world champion Jenson Button has put up for sale. Want to buy it?
This isn’t just any Porsche 911, either. This is a 1973 Porsche 911 2.7 Carrera RS — the Ferrari 250 GTO of collectible Porsches, the 911 that every driver with the soul of an F1 driver wants to own. The Holy Grail.
Just like the Ferrari GTO, this Porsche started out as a street-legal racing car. Revealed at the 1972 Paris auto show, the 2.7 Carrera RS was meant to homologate this lightweight, highly tuned model for sports car racing. It has fiberglass fenders, thin-gauge steel panels and plastic windows, while the 2,687cc engine is tuned for 210 horsepower at 6,300. (Imagine, 210 hp!) And this 2,414-pound car would get to 60 mph in 5.2 seconds on the way to 150 mph.
The RS arrived just at the moment when Porsche’s fortunes were at full throttle with racing wins in the 1972 Can-Am and the 1973 Daytona 24 Hours, and everyone decided that they really, really needed to own a 911. Sadly, when everyone in the U.S. got around to buying one in the 1970s, they discovered the post-1973 cars were strangled by emissions gear, had no air conditioning and broke a lot. It wasn’t until the 911SC appeared in 1978 that a 911 became a useful proposition for daily driving, and then everyone wanted one with a big turbo wing so they could look like a drug dealer from Miami.
Button’s car is no. 1280 of the 1,590 RSs built, a touring model that has covered about 25,000 miles. It’s notable as the personal car of Mario Angiolini, who ran the famous Jolly Club, a well-known Italian team in sports car racing and rallying. Button bought it just two years ago.
So poor old Jenson Button has this car on the market at the distressed, bring-a-trailer-and-take-it-away price of $332,614. This is rather more than the $220,000 value of a plain old cooking 2.7 Carrera RS, although a car freshly restored by the Porsche factory went for $440,000 at the R&M auction at Monterey in 2010. (Now you know why most guys just buy an old carbureted 911T and hang some RS-clone bodywork on it and then plug in an engine; it’s way, way cheaper.)
But no reason to feel sorry for Jenson Button, what with no time to drive his Porsche 911 and all. Apparently the Ron-ster (you know, McLaren supremo Ron Dennis) has promised Button a McLaren MP4-12C for those times when he needs to go to the grocery store for a loaf of bread.
Michael Jordan, Executive Editor, Edmunds.com
(Top Gear)
hubblehornz66 says:
03:51 PM, 02/ 1/12
Very good color selection, what they really need to do is race it.
HH
66
explorerx4 says:
04:47 PM, 02/ 1/12
That's an awful looking 911.
agnh says:
04:55 AM, 02/ 2/12
I don't think I've seen a RS in black with red before, stunning.
throwback says:
07:05 AM, 02/ 2/12
Maybe Jenson needs the cash.
clarkma5 says:
07:35 AM, 02/ 2/12
This makes Jenson, already my favorite F1 driver, even more likable to me! A Carrera RS 2.7, what fine taste! :D