This is what the first-ever Porsche 911 Turbo looks like today

 
1973 Porsche 911 Turbo factory prototype
Some people attending the Greenwich Concours d'Elegance final weekend walked past this Porsche 911 Turbo, giving it nary the glance. After all, it was tucked the little out of the way, as well as even with the tweaked bodywork as well as decals, if you've seen one 911 Turbo, you've seen them all, right? Well, no. Anyone who paused prolonged enough to read the info label owners Murray Smith placed front of the automobile learned that, in fact, this Turbo is more special than others. You see, it was the antecedent - the initial factory-turbocharged Porsche 911 highway car, period.

As the story goes, it began life as the regular '73 911S company automobile driven by Porsche arch engineer Helmuth Bott. From there, it won the Porsche genetics lottery when it was sucked into the automaker's initial module to serve as the basement for the Turbo. As such, it became the initial roadgoing Porsche 911 to get the turbo engine, along with the now-famous widebody diagnosis as well as whaletail.

Once the developmental role was complete, it became the 911 Turbo arrangement automobile for the Paris, Frankfurt, as well as Tokyo motor shows, though the story doesn't end there. Following the successive factory RSR conversion, this 911 Turbo was raced by Aussie Porsche importer Alan Hamilton during the mid-1970s. The icing upon the baked sweat bread for us came at the day's conclusion, when we got to hear the automobile glow up as well as get in line for the way past the podium. It sounded similar to God upon speakerphone. For the 911 with this provenance, that seemed entirely appropriate.


Gallery: 1973 Porsche 911 Turbo Factory Prototype