1973 911 RSR “Hippie” Porsche tribute #100151
SPECIFICATIONS
- MakePorsche
- Model911
- Year1973
- Serial #100151
We are pleased to offer 1973 911 RSR “Hippie” Porsche tribute s/n 100151, the second of only three Porsche RSR “Art Cars” built by Jon Gunderson, well known for his ground-up Ferrari 246 GT and 246 GTS rotisserie restorations. RSR tribute s/n 100151 is finished in the legendary “Hippie” Livery of 917-043, one of only five long-tail Porsche 917s (s/n 910-040 to s/n 910-044), all purpose-built for the 1970 running of the 24 hours of Le Mans. Porsche 917 s/n 917-043, in its psychedelic green with white edging over a purple background, was driven by Willi Kauhsen and Gérard Larrousse, reaching over 230 mph on the Mulsanne Straight, in the rain, en route to an impressive 2nd place finish in the 1970 race. For the 1971 running of the Le Mans 24 hours s/n 917-043 returned to set the fastest qualifying lap in Le Mans history, a blistering 3 minutes 13.6 seconds, good for an average speed of over 250 kilometers per hour and a top speed of 386 kph (240 MPH) which put 917-043 on the pole. While leading in the eleventh hour s/n 917-043 retired at 5:00 AM because of weak oil pressure. To build his many dream cars Jon Gunderson assembled a specialized team of fabricators, painters, engine builders, interior specialists and assembly mechanics. The meticulous and historical paintwork was laid out by Freeman Thomas, who over his career was a senior designer for Porsche, the head of Pacifica design for Daimler Chrysler, the director of design strategy for Ford plus the head of design for Volkswagen of America. The actual paintwork was done by Speedzone paint in Santee, California, at a cost of $65,000. Once the paintwork was complete it was ceramic coated and 911 RSR “Hippie” Porsche tribute s/n 100151 was then protected by a full clear-bra wrap at an additional cost of $10,000.
No decals or vinyl was used, ever color was masked and hand painted including the CIBIE and the MARTINI logos plus the Porsche crest on the hood. Though this level of work is excruciatingly time consuming and hence outrageously expensive, this obsession with detail has been carried throughout every step of the build process and so the end result is truly spectacular. Features include hand-formed steel front and rear bumpers, a hand-crafted aluminum hood with a center-fill 100-liter fuel tank with a machined metal fill cap, a beautifully fabricated aluminum duck tail rear spoiler with a 3.5 engine script, custom dual exhaust outlets, 15″ Braid wheels, 930 brakes, Elephant Racing suspension components, fully adjustable black with purple insert RS-style Recaro bucket seats and a black leather covered roll bar accented with contrasting yellow stitching. Power is provided by a freshly-built and fuel-injected Rothsport Racing 3.5L flat-six mated to a Type 915 five-speed manual trans axle and a limited-slip differential. The build began in 2017 and the Jon has added app. 3,039 kilometers or ~1.8k miles since the build was completed in 2019.
During the build process the body of the donor 911 was treated to a full rotisserie restoration starting with a strip to bare metal, a full primer rust-proofing and was then fitted with hand-formed steel front and rear bumpers as well as adding hand-formed steel fender flares and a custom fabricated all-aluminum deck lid and duck tail rear spoiler. RSR style reinforcements were added to the front/rear shock towers as well as the torsion tubes. Styling cues include a custom billet aluminum fuel cap, a matching passenger-side oil fill cap, T-handle hood and rear lid latches and RSR script on the rear spoiler. Final exterior touches include all new H4 headlights, turn signals and lenses as well as drilled door handles and RSR style rubber lid hold downs. A custom lightweight wiring harness was installed to further reduce weight. For an overview of the build process of all three Porsche RSR “Art Cars” built by Jon Gunderson click on https://www.rsrrebel.com/
The original 1970’s RSR engine was a 2.8 liter producing roughly 280 horsepower. No expense was spared during the engine build and Rothsport Racing in Oregon was tasked with the job. The Rothsport Racing 3.5L flat-six engine features electronic fuel injection, modified high butterfly throttle bodies, and a Motec engine management system hidden within the case of a Bosch MFI pump with twin CDI unit housings. Once in place the engine was tuned by Sakata Motorsports. The result is a beautiful, powerful and factory looking engine with a Dyno confirmed 355 horsepower at a cost of over $90,000. Power is put to the rear wheels via a Type 915 five-speed manual transaxle and an Giken limited-slip differential at a cost of over $15,000. A large front oil cooler and a supplemental under-fender oil cooler for added capacity cools the engine through Elephant Racing oil lines with an exterior oil fill.
The lightweight 15″ x 9″ Braid front wheels are mounted with Michelin 18/60/R 15 TB5 Racing Radial X tires and the 15″ x 11″ Braid rear wheels are mounted with Michelin 26/61/R 15 TB5 Racing Radial X tires. The chassis is fitted with Elephant Racing suspension components including Polybronze bushings, sway bars, shock mounts, and a matched set of torsion bars and Von shocks. Porsche 930 trailing arms have also been added. Porsche 930 finned brake calipers and cross-drilled and vented 930 rotors at all four corners haul it down from high speed. RSR tribute s/n 100151 was corner-balanced by Rothsport Racing after the engine was installed.
The interior is by Autos International, the premier shop for Porsche interiors in Southern California and is finished in a combination of Alcantara and genuine leather. The dash topper, knee pad, door and quarter panel garnish rails are finished in black alcantara and the seats are wrapped in black leather with purple seat inserts. The custom roll bar is wrapped in black leather with contrasting yellow stitching. The headliner is black Alcantara. The Recaro seats are finished in leather with purple inserts to match the outer body base color. Door panels are RSR style with black leather door pulls. The gauges were rebuilt by Joe’s Speedometer in Reseda. A beautiful single white faced tachometer is flanked by black faced speedometer, oil and fuel gauges plus a Heurer clock. The pedal assembly features a dual master cylinder unit with adjustable balance bar from the 901 Shop in Florida, retailing for $4000. A Wevo short shifter was installed, perfectly complimenting the rebuilt 915 transmission with crisp short shifts. Aluminum pedal boards by RennLine were also installed. The side window glass is thinner and all new glass was installed throughout. And finally, as a homage to the original, a RSR style leather wrapped steering wheel rounds out a beautifully appointed interior. Built as a passion project, no expense was spared and no budget was set, so the attention to detail is the equal of the bespoke quality of a Singer.
Over the last five decades we’ve inspected, driven and sold thousands of exotic cars. Few match the build quality of the Jon Gunderson built 1973 Porsche 911 RSR Porsche tribute cars, all of which are beautifully built, fully sorted and ready to be driven to your next cars and coffee meet, thanks to fresh mechanicals, strikingly attractive cosmetics and excellent performance. We urge you to go check out the YouTube videos produced for this car to get a better sense of the driving experience and incredible sounds it makes. Hundreds of photos were taken throughout the build process which will be included with the purchase as well as written documentation and invoices of the work done. Built at a cost of over $500,000, Porsche 911 RSR “hippie” tribute s/n 100151 is offered for far below the cost of the build and priced to sell at $319,500.
