The first time Porsche entered a 911 into a big race was the Monte Carlo Rally of 1965. That race ended at Prince’s Palace, with the Porsche finishing in fifth place. Now, fifty years later, the Monte Carlo 911 has been fully restored by Porsche Classic. And it was unveiled, you guessed it, Prince’s Palace of Monaco.
Back in 1965, little did Huschke von Hanstein, the racing director and the press officer who entered the car into the Monte Carlo Rally, know that that fifth place will be foundation of a glorious and amazing motorsport career for the Porsche 911. Today Porsche Motorsport upgrades its racing 911s based on pretty much the same principles Huschke and his colleagues used to upgrade the ruby-red Monte Carlo 911.
In order to prepare the Monte Carlo 911 for competition Porsche engineers replaced the Solex carburetors with Weber units and boosted the output of the two-liter six-cylinder engine from 130 to 150 horsepower. They also equipped the car with standard rally equipment like rollover bar, Twinmaster, stopwatches, two extra front headlights, and the roof headlight.
So as you can tell, the Monte Carlo 911 was a big enough legend to warrant a full and thorough restoration. Porsche Classic specialists took the car apart and over a period of two years restored every bit to its original state; in some cases even better than original. The restored car is a museum piece for sure, but it’s a fully workable one, as shown by four-time Monte Carlo Rally winner Walter Röhrl who took it for a spin around Côte d’Azur. Check it out in the gallery below:
