This is the ultimate sleeper Porsche – a 1973 Porsche 911T with a 3.6 liter 964 engine installed by the folks at Rothsport Racing. The previous owner purchased the car back in the early 1990’s as a completely stock 1973 911 T. In 2002, he decided he wanted more power and reached out to Rothsport Racing to formulate a plan for the vehicle. Not seeing the car yet, Rothsport assumed it would be your average longhood Porsche, riddled with rust and wear, and said it would not be worth it. The owner asked if he could bring the car by, and they were shocked at how well preserved and original the vehicle was.
After speaking with the owner, Jeff Gamroth, everyone agreed that the ideal direction would be sourcing a rebuilt 964 engine rather than rebuilding the existing 2.4 liter motor. Once the proper engine was sourced, they began the work necessary to allow the vehicle to accept the new engine while also be able to perform. Due to the drastic upgrade in engine size, the vehicle required additional cooling for the oil system, so front fender oil coolers under both the right and left fenders were added to ensure optimal oil temps were achieved. The transmission was also in need of an upgrade due to the increased power, which came in the form of a 915 sourced from a 911SC that they rebuilt to include a new Guard limited slip differential. The stock 964 exhaust was removed and replaced with SSI heat exchangers and a stainless steel muffler to retain a more vintage appearance. Knowing the increase in power would overwhelm the existing brake and suspension systems, Rothsport decided to install 22mm (front) and 28mm (rear) torsion bars to stiffen the ride complimented by larger Weltmeister adjustable sway bars. The old struts and shocks were replaced with new Bilsteins along with new front ball joints, and turbo-style tie rods and Neatrix rear spring plate bushings. The original brake calipers were replaced with 930 brake calipers that had were machined down to allow for optimal clearance, while tucked behind the 6x15/7x15 Deep 6 Fuchs. Given the sky high prices and availability of original 7x15 “7R” Fuchs and the low quality of the reproductions, the owner decided to have the rear Deep 6 rims enlarged by an inch to fill the wheel well and get more rubber on the pavement.
Since all of this work has been completed, the most recent owner has only put roughly 2500 miles on the vehicle. It only has 97,500 original miles on the body while the rarely seen Rose Red/Raspberry paint is 100% original. The front seats have been replaced with corduroy bucket seats and a B-pillar brace/harness guide has been installed behind them for additional bracing. The remainder of the interior is completely original and in excellent shape, including the dash which has no cracks. The car runs, drives and handles incredibly well and is a perfect balance of modern power and originality. Since being at the Makellos Classics shop, we have dyno’d the car, resulting in an output of 221 hp to the rear wheels.
