1973 Sebring 12 Hour-Winning Porsche 911 2.8 RSR For Sale
Images via William i’Anson
This 1973 Porsche 911 2.8 RSR was entered by Brumos in the Sebring 12 Hour in 1973 where it was driven to victory by Peter Gregg, Hurley Haywood and David Helmick. It’s up for sale at William i’Anson.
The car, chassis 0705, was delivered to Dave Helmick just before practice for the 1973 running of the Sebring 12 Hour. Following the delivery, Brumos’ Peter Gregg approached Helmick to discuss borrowing the car for the race. Helmick agreed in exchange for full support from Brumos and a drive in the race.
Brumos fitted an FIA-compliant ATL fuel cell, extended the factory rear roll hoop and installed an intercom system for communication. With those few changes complete, they were off. The team qualified fourth overall, and would take both speed and consistency into the race itself. At the end of the 12 hours Gregg, Haywood and Helmick crossed the line first, taking home outright honours.
Following Sebring the car went to South American Roberto Quintanilla, who immediately raced it in Pueblo, Mexico. The car was then painted red with blue stripes and ran in the 1000 Kilometers of Mexico.
Some swapping around of cars and go-fast bits would follow during Quintanilla’s period of ownership. Our car, chassis 0705, eventually found its way into a few factory prototype parts from another Porsche RSR – 0588, which had spent some time with Roger Penske Racing. It inherited short rear trailing arms, titanium variable rate coil springs and centre lock 917-style wheels. Quintanilla would run 0705 as a second car in 1975 with John McClelland sharing driving duties.
When Quintanilla stopped racing, the car went to McClelland and was eventually sold to Bob Johnson. Johnson cleaned it, repainting it in orange and racing it with Tom Touhy in the Watkins Glen 6 Hours as well as TransAm events in 1978.
0705 was sold again in 1979, entering a period of relative obscurity. In the mid ‘80s the car, now pink, made its way to Dr. Bill Jackson. Jackson was a race car collector, and kept the car until 1999. At the turn of the millennium it was sold to Heritage Motors of Hollywood, moving shortly thereafter to David Mohlman in 2001.
Mohlman would treat the car to a well-earned restoration, enlisting Gunnar Racing to bring it back to its Sebring 12 Hours specification. Many of 0588’s prototype parts were still on the car, as was the evidence of its many liveries.
The current owner purchased 0705 in 2004, taking it to the United Kingdom and enacting a thorough historical investigation to uncover many of the details you read here.
It’s since been part of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, including Porsche’s 70th anniversary celebrations in 2018, found success in the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance and been displayed in the Hall of Fame at the Sebring 12 Hours in 2013, when Hurley Haywood took it out for a few laps.
As an RSR, this 911 is exceedingly rare to begin with. Its history and its win at Sebring make it even more significant. For more details head to the official Williams i’Anson website here.
Images & history via William i’Anson
