Vehicle Description
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The Ultimate "R Gruppe" 911
2.9-liter Twin Plug 275 H.P.
Restoration - Performance - Cosmetic Upgrades performed by Willhoit
Auto Restoration, Scott's Independent, Canepa
Factory air conditioning Full leather interior
1st owner over 26 years
Ordered on March 9th 1971 and completed on September 8th, this 1972
Tangerine orange Porsche 911E began its life with Staff Sargent
Willie J. Small. Originally intent on ordering a 1971, Small was
told that Porsche was no longer taking orders for '71 cars at the
time. Changing his original order to a 1972, he optioned the 911E
with black leatherette with leather seats, USA-equipment, factory
air conditioning, a Blaupunkt "Frankfurt" radio, tinted glass all
around for a total of $9,080.36. He shipped the Porsche from
Stuttgart to Houston, Texas on December 17th of 1971 and started
his 26+ year ownership of the car.
Shortly after the 911 was delivered to Small, records show that he
and the Porsche moved to California. An ever-caring owner for his
car, the 911 would remain well serviced during Small's entire
ownership with numerous records and maintenance documents to show
for it. With the last registration for the car indicating Willie
being the owner in 1998, the Porsche would then change hands for
the first time and be sold to John Willhoit of Willhoit Auto
Restoration. Willhoit purchased the car on behalf of its new owner,
Carl Akins, in late 1999. With the 911 now in his possession, Akins
would put the Porsche through a meticulous restoration that yielded
the perfect result: A built, bespoke and truly world-class
"R-gruppe" outlaw Porsche 911.
Beginning in 1999, Akins would start the restoration process for
the 911 and take more than two years to carry out this meticulous
project. In charge of completing the restoration, Willhoit began by
stripping the Tangerine tub down to every last piece of hardware,
cleaning and prepping the tub as they went along. Color matched to
the original Tangerine orange from the Porsche factory, the now
prepped Porsche tub was resprayed to perfection. With the rear
seats removed to save weight, the interior was covered with leather
and new carpet was installed throughout. The interior causes
feelings of withdrawal as soon as you step out of the car.
The mechanicals of any 911 restoration are something to spend some
time on, but Akins decided that his car should be something unlike
anything else underneath. Scott's Independent, Inc. in Anaheim, CA
worked closely with Akins and Willhoit throughout the build. The
engine from the case up is anything but ordinary, sporting a NOS
Porsche 911 magnesium crankcase, along with a NOS crankshaft.
Custom Carillo connecting rods, Mahle 2.9-liter lightweight pistons
and cylinders, special copper head gaskets, custom Elgin camshafts,
racing valve springs and titanium retainers, magnesium throttle
bodies ported to the Carrera heads, custom rebuilt mechanical fuel
injection pump, twin-plugs with an ANDIAL distributor, and SSI
headers with a custom sport exhaust that gives the 911 a
spine-tingling wail at full throttle. This in combination with
other engine components was good for 275 naturally aspirated
horsepower on the dyno, almost doubling the 911E's original output.
Scott's also rebuilt the 5-speed transmission from the ground-up,
adding a shorter 3rd, 4th and 5th gear to the box, a more modern
shifter along with a Quaife limited slip differential.
Suspension was a critical component to harness all of the extra
power now being created, and Willhoit was keen on which
modifications were needed. New bushings were installed everywhere,
new torsion bars (22mm and 26mm), new sway bars, new Bilstein sport
shocks and struts were added with raised and decambered spindles,
new Porsche Turbo brake calipers with drilled rotors, stainless
steel brake lines and Pagid sport pads taking care of the corners.
New aluminum trailing arms, late adjustable spring plates, sport
engine mounts, and a strut tower brace were added to ensure
handling matched the car's newfound performance.
While these major upgrades were being completed, other items on the
Porsche's list were checked off. Every piece of plating was
refinished to factory specs, A/C lines and components were either
replaced or rebuilt, new headlight and tail light assemblies were
sourced, and NOS fog lamps were installed. With its final pieces
completed and assembled in early 2002, the Willhoit and Scott's
built 911E was finished for Carl Akins to enjoy.
The 911 arrived at Canepa on February of 2008 with 6,201 miles on
the odometer. Bruce fell in love with this car, and proceeded to
tweak it in subtle ways - adding a 911S front spoiler, exhaust
mods, 911S front and rear bumper deco trim including deleting side
lower molding trim, etc. Bruce mostly kept the 911E at his
residence over the years, often taking a fun drive on a Sunday
morning or a weekend rally.
The most recent owner is one of the most well-known Porsche
collectors of 356 through 911 "Outlaw" type cars, 1973 Carrera RS
examples, and 1967 911R's. Dick Moran is a perfectionist and that
is what drew him to ask Bruce if he could be the 911E's next
caretaker. Never satisfied, Dick proceeded to install Recaro sport
seats recovered in full black leather, a black headliner, newly
restored early deep dish 6" factory alloy wheels with Pirelli CN36
radial tires, upgraded Hella high-output driving lamps, etc.
Now showing just 7,900 miles since restoration/modification, the
paint is in concours condition, with the interior looking as though
the final pieces of leather were just stitched together and put
into place. The engine growls at idle like a car that has something
to say, with its revving and acceleration letting you know there is
something much more underneath than your regular flat six. Only
needing a slight cleaning and a light foam pad polish to present
the car as it looked a decade before, this Tangerine 911E is sure
to delight any Porsche fan. With its contemporary style with
mechanical underpinnings intent on making the driver enjoy every
minute of being in the 911, this is a driver's car through and
through.