Porsche has rolled out a special one-off version of its latest 911 GT3 RS as a tribute to driver Jo Siffert, a Swiss racing driver whose talents helped lift the performance of the 917 and see it achieve its first win.
The special 911 GT3 RS, known as the 911 GT3 RS Tribute to Jo Siffert, was developed via Porsche's Sonderwunsch in-house personalization program and features a livery inspired by the 917 driven to victory by Siffert and Kurt Ahrens at a race in 1969 held at the Österreichring near Zeltweg, Austria.
It was the first victory for the 917, which until then was considered difficult to drive at high speeds due to its aerodynamics. The legendary endurance race car from that point would go on to dominate events like the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Nürburgring 1000 km.
Siffert, too, would go on to win more races for Porsche. According to the automaker, he contested almost 300 races over the space of 11 years, even competing in multiple races in a single weekend, such was his passion for the sport. Unfortunately he died in a crash during a 1971 Formula 1 race at Brands Hatch in the U.K., behind the wheel of a BRM. He was only 35 years old.
His family helped the Sonderwunsch team in arriving at the final design for the special 911 GT3 RS, including son Philippe Siffert and grandson Jérémy Siffert. The team also worked with Bosch and Shell, to come up with sponsorship logos that match the design used on Siffert’s winning 917. And as a final touch, Siffert’s autograph is embossed on the cover of the center console and in the leather key case.
Like all 992-generation 911 GT3 RSes, the car features a 4.0-liter flat-6 delivering 518 hp. The engine is mated to a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and spins the rear wheels only. Porsche quotes 0-60 mph in three seconds and a top speed of 184 mph.
The special 911 GT3 RS will be on display at various Porsche dealerships in Switzerland during the month of August before making an appearance at the Zürich auto show running Nov. 7-10. The car will then be sold to a buyer picked at random from all interested parties, Porsche said.
