Imagine that you are about to
be crowned monarch of one of the world’s last colonial empires. Your coronation
will of course feature men on horses and people with funny hats, but surely
there must be even better ways to celebrate your mightiness. Like a race,
obviously.
That’s what happened when
Elizabeth II in 1953 took possession of all that pink land in old atlases. It
led to the birth of one of the world’s great classic rallies: The East African
Safari Rally.
Right from the beginning this grueling
race through Kenya, Uganda and Taganyika (modern day Tanzania), became the kind
of thing everyone wanted to win. Including Porsche. And in 1970 – after
considerable amounts of diddle-daddling – they made their move and introduced
what was to become yet another 911 icon: The Porsche 911 ST.
It took its lead from its
predecessor, the 1967 911R, and went on a radical diet. The car was stripped of
all the shiny bits, and of soundproofing, under-seal, heating ducts, seat slide
supports, the glove-box lid, ashtray, sun visors, rear torsion-bar covers and
pretty much everything else that wasn’t essential. For the body hub and panels
thinner gauge steel and fiberglass were used. And all windows except the
windscreen were replaced with plexiglass. To top it off Porsche fitted wider
seven-inch forged aluminum Fuchs front wheels and nine-inch rear wheels and the
front brake calipers from the 908/2.
Porsche took the opportunity
to enhance all areas of the engine. Biral cylinders, higher compression ratios,
Mahle pistons, twin-plug heads, polished connecting rods and plastic intake
trumpets were a few of the improvements. Horsepower jumped to an astonishing
240. It may not sound like a lot compared to, say, a Bugatti Veyron’s 1,001
horsepower. But, then again, the Veyron makes Saturn look underweight, while
the Porsche 911 ST tips the scales at just 850 kg.
The car came too late for the
1970 East African Rally. But, although it originally was intended as a rally
car, it made its mark at several track events during its first season. This
included Le Mans and class wins at Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours in a
refurbished rally car with a 270 hp, 2.5 liter engine.
In 1971 Porsche took a long,
hard look at the feather weight 911 ST and concluded it was fat. Weight was
further reduced to 800 kg, which, to Porsche’s eyes, was close to obese. So
using titanium and additional fiberglass components, weight was lowered once
more to an astonishing 789kg. Factory cars were given an experimental 2.4 liter
engine with horsepower reported to be around 260.
Porsche prepared 3 factory
cars specifically for the East African Safari Rally. But in spite of a valiant
effort none of the cars completed this punishing endurance event. To the day
this remains the most spectacular defeat (read: ‘epic fail’ for the
age-challenged) of Porsche. It took another 40 years for Porsche to finally win
the event; although not the main event, but one reserved for classic cars. The
greatest thing: The driver had been behind the wheels of one of Porsche’s own
911 STs during their 1971 attempt. It seems not only old Porsches can soldier
on; their drivers can as well.
The Porsche 911 ST is truly
one of the greatest 911s of them all. Not convinced? Well, how many other cars
have their own Facebook page
Labels: 911 ST, rally
