This particular example — the final SC/RS produced — was first earmarked for South African importers Lindsay Saker; however, it was diverted, eventually landing with Tycho Christian van Dijk, owner of the eponymous van Dijk Racing Team, in February 1984. Van Dijk prepared the car with subtle Dutch flag-inspired colors, a hood-mounted rally light pod, radio equipment, a roof-mounted antenna and a Jaeger rally computer. By the end of 1984, van Dijk had only entered a single event with Swiss co-driver F. Jullien, the Tour de Corse with start number 23, where it finished 14th as the highest-placed Porsche out of 158 entrants.
In fact, as the 1984 Tour de Corse was the final event of Tycho van Dijk’s WRC career, it is highly likely a fondness between driver and car was forged during the successful event, as chassis 021 was kept by van Dijk until 2004. As result of its single 20-year ownership, the car remained in a remarkable unaltered state, something that cannot be said of the majority of SC/RS with high-level competition history.
[The car] was directly acquired from van Dijk by the consignor with only 4,979 kilometers, forming an early cornerstone of what would become an internationally famous Porsche collection. In March 2024, this final SC/RS was inspected by Porsche San Diego while obtaining a Porsche Classic Technical Certificate (CTC). Naturally, this highly original example passed with flying colors and, once again, was noted to retain its original Type 930/18 engine and Type 915/71 racing gearbox.
(Introductory description courtesy of Broad Arrow Auctions.)
SCM Analysis
Detailing
| Vehicle: | 1984 Porsche 911 SC/RS |
| Years Produced: | 1984 |
| Number Produced: | 21 |
| Chassis Number Location: | Aluminum tag in front trunk, passenger’s side inner fender; chassis stamping on crossmember in front trunk |
| Engine Number Location: | Upright on fan base under engine facing passenger’s side |
| Club Info: | Porsche Club of America |
| Website: | http://www.pca.org |
| Alternatives: | 1985 Audi Sport Quattro S1, 1984–87 Ferrari 288 GTO, 1982–84 Lancia 037 Rally |
This car, Lot 180, sold for $2,000,000, including buyer’s premium, at Broad Arrow Auctions’ Chattanooga, TN, sale, on October 15, 2024.
Porsche entered rallies as soon as it started assembling its first eponymous cars in 1949–50. All of Porsche’s early racing victory posters commemorated 356s in rallies. Then, in the mid-’60s, 911s won rallies all over the world, notably Monte Carlo five years in a row, 1966–70. Porsche also racked up many hillclimb championships. These results generated massive publicity in Europe but were barely noticed in North America.
That began to change when Björn Waldegård placed 2nd in the East African Safari in 1974. By then, successful driver Jürgen Barth was running Porsche’s Customer Racing department, joined by engineer Roland Kussmaul, and Porsche was more serious about building rally cars.
Porsche’s new plan
Porsche’s interest in rallying reached a high point when the FIA issued Gruppe B rules in 1983. Technical Director Helmut Bott wanted to build a Porsche “supercar” — the Type 959. Victory in Gruppe B rallies was the rationale. The design specs were awesome and ultimately achieved, while also requiring the construction of 200 road cars for homologation. Porsche ultimately built 337 959s, including 29 “S” models. This program produced the Type 953 that won Paris-Dakar in 1984, leading to 959s finishing 1-2 in 1986.
The 959 project was a large workload occurring simultaneously with Porsche’s successful prototype-class Type 956 and 962 racers. Into the void created by the 959’s delay came Porsche’s Barth, David Richards, and Rothmans, the tobacco company.
David Richards was a successful U.K.-based rallyist, winning the 1981 World Rally Championship in a British Ford. He then turned to team management, headquartering his new David Richards Autosports firm at Silverstone circuit for ease of testing. Rothmans, meanwhile, had a strong history sponsoring the factory-entry 956s and 962s. That worked well for publicity in Europe, including large posters in the front window of every smoke shop. But Rothmans wanted to include markets in Africa and the Middle East. Rallying was the answer.
Group B had an interesting loophole that allowed homologation with just 20 cars, if the base was a discontinued model. Porsche was replacing its 3.0-liter 1978–83 911 SC with the new 3.2-liter 1984–89 Carrera. Voilà — a discontinued model on which to base a rally car. With Rothmans money assured, Barth, along with Kussmaul and Richards, developed the car. Because it could not be turbocharged — per the base homologation 911 SC — they aimed at national or regional rally series, including the European Championship and the Middle East Championship.
Ready to rally
Barth and his team built the awesome 911 SC/RS, with only 21 examples constructed with small refinements everywhere. They pared curb weight down to 2,115 pounds from the 2,425-pound 911 SC by removing undercoating, sound deadening and interior niceties, while substituting an aluminum hood, doors and front fenders, fiberglass bumpers and thinner glass. The base chassis was 930-spec, including brakes and suspension, with uprated sway bars, shocks and torsion bars, plus bigger fender flares. Gussets and reinforcements were welded to the tub where flex or twist occurred.
The engine was wound tight with 935 heads, 10.3:1 compression, racing cams, a Kugelfischer mechanical-fuel-injection pump, and high-butterfly injection.
In the fall of 1987, my buddy — the late Ed Healey — and I bought three just-outdated Rothmans SC/RSs from David Richards. With a handheld watch, we timed a run from standstill to 100 mph and back to zero in just under 10 seconds (with three upshifts) in tarmac-optimized chassis 008, on the Silverstone track. Handling was outstanding. It was love at first corner. Your author and other enthusiasts who have driven all the RSs believe the 1984 SC/RS driving experience stands tallest.
Porsche prepped Type 954s in two variants: Rally, with an open exhaust, an 8,000-rpm redline and 270 hp; and Strasse, with a sporty street exhaust, 7,600-rpm redline and 250 hp. Rally spec also included a full Matter roll cage, droop straps and other differences. Rally versions are more desirable and valuable than Strasse versions.
While it is the source of much agita, research, and discussion, the factory-outfitted Rally versions are thought to be chassis 001, 003–009, 011–015 and 018–019. That leaves 002, 010, 016, 017, 020 and 021 as Strasse versions.
Bought it now
The Broad Arrow car was well known throughout the small SC/RS world. The second owner (since 2004) and consignor was a Swiss national. In 2009, he brought the car to the SC/RS 25 Years of SC/RS event at the Abbeville track, arranged by Antwerp’s Johan-Frank Dirickx. Attendees spent lots of time examining the cars.
About five years ago, the consignor put his SC/RS on the market at a very high price, with no takers. A bit later, he moved to San Diego before recently returning to Switzerland. While in San Diego, he worked to sell his SC/RS through Bill Noon of Symbolic International. Bill spent a lot of time researching SC/RSs, to his credit. He marketed the car with a strong asking price. No sale resulted, so Bill put the car on Bring a Trailer. Closing on May 25, 2024, the car did not meet reserve with a high bid of $756k. The small SC/RS world was apoplectic, especially the several buyers who had spent north of $2,000,000.
With the car still in the U.S., Broad Arrow Auctions took in 021 for its new Chattanooga auction. With a pre-sale estimate of $2.6m–$3.5m, the car was a no-sale with an indicated high bid of $1,925,000 ($2.1m with buyer’s premium). Post-sale, Broad Arrow offered the car at $2.2m. A day later, the car was listed as sold post-auction for $2m all-in.
SC/RS chassis 021 was frequently referred to as a Rally version because its first owner rallied it. Cognoscenti were convinced it was built as a Strasse and converted for rally use. Some of the BaT testimony supported that (e.g. no droop straps). Those evaluations kept some potential bidders away. Regardless, the sale was a good value for the buyer. There have been just three factory-spec SC/RSs — two Rally versions and one “project” Strasse — sold privately over the past six years. The next one could be years away. What will the market be like then? Our bet is “higher.” ♦
