Stirling Moss Porsche to be auctioned in UK
Powered by a rear-mounted 4-cylinder air-cooled engine, Porsche's charismatic RennSport ('RS') cars won the Targa Florio road rally in 1956, 1959 and 1960. But for Moss, the Porsche connection is more personal.
In the 1961 Targa Florio, Sir Stirling shared a 2-litre Porsche RS60 with 1962 and 1968 F1 World Champion Graham Hill, and while the duo didn't win the event (due a transmission failure while in the lead and with less than 8km to run), the car left a great memory.
Sir Stirling describes the Porsche RS60/61 series as: "Just super cars - beautifully balanced and simply tailor-made for such races as the mighty Targa Florio around 440 miles of Sicilian mountain roads. That was one morning when I woke up and really could say to myself, 'For today's race you have got the ideal car...'".
Some years ago, when he saw this very well-restored RS-61, chassis '070', offered for sale in America, Moss said he fell in love with it all over again. After buying the car, Sir Stirling campaigned it at Historic level in the Le Mans Classic, and in the USA in his very last competitive motor race.
The history of '070' can be traced back to 1961, when it was delivered new to the US. Used for competition from the outset, this Porsche was a regular in Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) events up and down the US east coast, including the Daytona National. The second and third owners continued to race the car in east-coast events, with '070' credited with no fewer than 13 victories and 20 podium placings during its active career in SCCA National Competition.
Retired from competition in 1963, the Porsche survived, complete and unmolested, before being restored - twice. The first, in 1969, was followed by a more recent and much more comprehensive rebuild by top historic Porsche specialist Andy Prill. Ready to be campaigned in Historic competition and with the added allure of Sir Stirling Moss ownership, Bonhams estimate that Porsche RS-61 '070' could sell in the _1.7m to _2m range (AU$3.4m - AU$4.0m approx.).
Bonhams Motor Car Department head James Knight says: "We are hugely honoured to have been commissioned to sell Sir Stirling's cherished Porsche RS61. It is particularly appropriate that we should offer the car at the forthcoming Goodwood Festival of Speed - where Sir Stirling is the founder patron and where he achieved so much throughout his unmatchable career."
The Bonhams Goodwood Festival of Speed Sale takes place on June 26, 2015. Further details at: bonhams.com.
Images: courtesy of Bonhams and Goodwood Media
