Battle-scarred 911

This 911 rally car is unique among historic Porsches in so far as it has covered more competitive miles than perhaps any other – the equivalent to circumnavigating the globe three times. It was built specifically for the 1977 London Sydney Marathon. Since then it has competed in numerous other long-distance rallies including the Repco Reliability Trial around Australia (1979), Australian Safari Rally (1985 and 1988), Targa Tasmania (1996), London Sydney Marathon (2004), and the East African Classic Safari Rally (2005), as well as appearing at many of the most prestigious historic motor sports events.

The car was manufactured early in 1976 and retained by the factory until March 1977 when it was supplied directly to Sobislav Zasada in order for him to compete in the London Sydney Marathon.

At almost 19,000 miles, the 1977 London Sydney is the longest rally of all time and one of the toughest ever. Zasada and Schramm faced strong competition from a six-car Mercedes team with a substantial budget. Nevertheless, by Germany they were in the lead, and the Porsche would lead as far as Singapore, swapping places with the leading Mercedes more than once, eventually finishing this gruelling event in 13th place overall and 10th in class having lost over three hours stuck in deep sand on one of the closing stages in Australia.

At the rally's end, Porsche Australia purchased the car from Zasada for Dean Rainsford to drive in the Australian Rally Championship. Dean's Carrera 2.7 featured in the Weetabix Rally Car series of collectors' cards, which helped inspire present owner David Cavanagh's interest in rallying as a young boy. During 1978 the Porsche finished top-six in most rounds, setting a number of records, and won the Western Australia round.

Its next big event was the Repco Reliability Trial in August 1979, an 11,500 mile marathon around Australia. The Carrera was entered by Porsche for Rainsford and Edgar Herrmann, twice winner of the East African Safari Rally, and eventually finished 7th overall, the leading two-man team home. After the Repco rally, the car was sold to Michael Stilwell. By this time it had clocked up over 35,000 competitive miles.

In 1985 the Carrera was owned briefly by noted Victorian Porsche racer and collector Peter Lovett, before being purchased by Peter Glover, who rebuilt the car, prior to entering it into the inaugural Wynn's Safari Rally. Unfortunately, on Day 5 the Porsche was forced to retire while leading, side-lined by a broken rear trailing arm. In 1988 the car was again rebuilt by Porsche Australia for a second attempt at the Australian Safari, this time fitted with works 953 Paris Dakar running gear, only to be forced out by a broke front suspension ball joint while in a strong position.

Fast forward to the toughest and most competitive historic rally in the world, the 2005 Safari was run over a distance of 2,500 miles across Kenya and Tanzania. For this event the Carrera was crewed by David and four-time Safari winner Björn Waldegaard, the latter returning to Africa after 13 years away. The Martini-liveried Carrera eventually finished 7th overall, less than a minute from 5th place. Unlike many of the other Porsches, the Carrera retained in-period suspension and engine technology, yet was the fastest Porsche on many stages. Björn and David received the Henry Liddon Memorial Trophy for the team best demonstrating the spirit of the event.

This unique 1976 Porsche 911 Carrera Rally Car is available at Bonham’s upcoming Goodwood Members’ Meeting sale held on the 10th April 2022. Photos © Bonhams.