Designed from the ground up and only carrying forward 20 percent of the previous 964 version of the Porsche 911, the 1996 version 911 RS, designated the 993, was in itself a lightweight version.
Constructed with a normally aspirated, air-cooled, flat six 3.8 litre extensively used aluminium components and pumped out 220kW.
It has an additional oil cooler, a short-shift, five-speed gear box and a surprising austere interior with racing seats and many luxury items deleted.
Porsche engineers put the 911 RS 3.8 on a ruthless crash diet by removing the headliner, electric windows, electric mirrors, central locking, intermittent windshield wipers, radio speakers, power-adjustable seats, rear defroster, airbags and sound insulation.
With only 1000 built world-wide and less than a dozen factory-delivered, right-hand drive models in Australia, it was termed, the ‘race car for the road’ similar to racers competing throughout Europe.
A seam-welded body shell with an aluminium bonnet supported with a single strut was used for the body along with thinner glass.
On the interior, the rear seats were removed, and special racing seats along with spartan door cards were installed. Sound proofing was also reduced to a minimum.
The suspension system used Bilstein dampers and the ride height was lowered for improved handling. Adjustable front and rear anti-roll bars and an under-bonnet strut-brace further increased handling. The final weight of the car was just 1280kg
