Porsche’s Tribute To An Icon, The ‘Spirit Of Carrera RS’ Exhibition

Porsche Museum, ‘Spirit Of Carrera RS’

Honouring one of its undisputed icons of automotive history with a special exhibition, the Porsche Museum presents, ‘Spirit Of Carrera RS’.

Currently ongoing, the museum in Zuffenhausen is featuring everything about the Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7, aka the ‘ducktail’, ‘RS’ or ‘2.7’.

Porsche Museum, ‘Spirit Of Carrera RS’

Spotlighted at the centre of the special exhibition is a bright yellow 911 Carrera RS 2.7 in Touring spec, as well as a rare metallic green prototype.

Accompanying them are other extraordinary cars from the family lineage of the ducktail, spanning five decades of Porsche history.

Porsche Museum, ‘Spirit Of Carrera RS’

Namely, the 964 and 993 generations of the 911 RS, of which Porsche expanded the RS family to include air-cooled sports cars. 

Then, the water-cooled era is represented by the 996, 997 and 991 generations of the 911 GT3 RS, and the 992-generation 911 Sport Classic models.

Porsche Museum, ‘Spirit Of Carrera RS’

Beautifully featuring a fixed rear spoiler, the latter is a collector’s edition from the Heritage Design Series from Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur.

Speaking of which, the car’s ‘ducktail’ moniker from the realm of avian anatomy was inspired by the shape of the rear spoiler.

Porsche Museum, ‘Spirit Of Carrera RS’

Impressively, at high speeds, it presses the 911 to the ground and thereby reduces lift to achieve the ideal balance and enable higher top speeds.

Half a century ago, with the RS, the sports car manufacturer achieved the perfect synthesis between weight, power, aerodynamics and driving dynamics. It was light, fast, race-ready and road-approved.

Porsche Museum, ‘Spirit Of Carrera RS’

On that note, the RS was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show on 5 October 1972, and it was the first series-production car in the world with front and rear spoilers. 

The requirements for the 911 base vehicle for racing and rallying were clearly defined with light and fast being the focus.

Porsche Museum, ‘Spirit Of Carrera RS’

To achieve the criteria, Porsche factory race engineers, Hans Mezger and Valentin Schäffer, developed the 2.7-litre six-cylinder boxer engine with fuel injection from the ground up.

In the Sport version, the 207 HP, 960 KG coupe went from 0 to 100 KM/H in 5.8 seconds and topped out at almost 245 KM/H. 

Porsche Museum, ‘Spirit Of Carrera RS’

Outstandingly, the precise aerodynamics designed back then with racing cars in mind, still make the RS unique today.

All in all, the ‘Spirit Of Carrera RS’ tells the story of the RS and its racing cousin, the RSR, not only via the cars and anecdotes, but also with films, photos, racing posters and interactive features.

Porsche Museum, ‘Spirit Of Carrera RS’