1973 Frankfurt Show 911 Turbo concept to appear at the Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court
Fans of the traditional air-cooled Porsche 911 will want to add the Concours of Elegance to their list of summer events, since this year will provide an opportunity to get up close to the original 911 Turbo prototype from 1973.
The car set to be displayed at Hampton Court is the very one which appeared on the Porsche stand at the 1973 Frankfurt show and was created by Porsche’s in-house styling studio using a 911 S as the base car.
Featuring hand-painted ‘Turbo’ lettering, the iconic ‘whale tail’ spoiler, Fuchs rims and a unique silver colour, the show car wasn’t actually all it seemed: legend has it that the 3-litre turbo flat six wasn’t actually ready in time, meaning that the show car featured a regular non-turbo 2.7 engine with the turbocharging set-up mocked up in wood.
That didn’t dent its appeal to showgoers and the reception to the car was sufficiently positive for the production ‘930’ 911 Turbo to appear two years later when it immediately became the fastest road car available in Germany.
The prototype car meanwhile would tour other motor shows before returning to Stuttgart and being used as a pre-production test bed for 911 RSR parts. It would later be purchased by Australian Porsche importer Alan Hamilton, the car moving to the USA in 2010 and returning to Europe in 2016.
It’s since been returned to its 1973 show car condition except for one all-important detail: the wooden turbo installation has been replaced by a proper 911 Turbo engine.
Concours of Elegance is held at Hampton Court Palace from August 30 to September 1 and you’ll find more details at www.concoursofelegance.co.uk
