This Poetic 911 Project Resurrects a Porsche Legend in More Ways than One

A once-forgotten, class-winning Le Mans racer gets a new lease on life — along with a modern homage.

Yellow vintage race car front side with black and silver wheel, featuring sponsor decals including "Shell," "BIE," and "LOVE DESIGN" with a red heart. The car is partially inside a garage with sunlight illuminating the front.

Published 4 hours ago

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Toward the end of the 1960s, Porsche introduced the 911 2.5 S/T as an off-the-shelf offering for use in group 3 and group 4 competition. Available for a hefty sum and in limited numbers, it was aimed at the brand’s more sporting customers as a driver-focused race car.

Come 1972, one such Porsche client successfully raced his way to a GT class win at the 40th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Afterwards, however, the car didn’t enjoy a typical hero’s welcome. Instead, it changed hands several times before being lost to history.

A yellow vintage race car with the number 41 on the hood and doors is parked on a race track pit lane. The car has black racing stripes and additional headlights mounted on the front. Behind it, several other race cars and people are visible, with a large crowd in the grandstands above. Flags from various countries are flying above the grandstands. The atmosphere suggests a classic motorsport event. — This particular shot comes from the 1972 Le Mans, in which this Porsche 911 S/T won its class and placed 13th overall.

Or so it was once thought.

Having begun tracing a lead as early as 2008, a collector eventually rescued the car from its dusty slumber in 2013. Now, the Porsche has not only been restored to its former glory but also gotten resurrected through a new 911 homage.

A fallen race winner

The Porsche in question was originally ordered by an American racer named Mike Keyser, who campaigned the car throughout the 1972 endurance world championship season with the help of Sylvain Garant and Porsche factory driver Jürgen Barth.

A stripped-down, partially disassembled blue vintage car with no doors or front fenders, filled with various car parts inside. The car is parked on a lot with other classic vehicles, including a beige car, a white convertible, and a white Volkswagen van in the background. The blue car's front wheel is rusty, and the rear wheel has a different rim. Red straps are securing some parts inside and on the car. — Despite its historic performance, the 911 didn’t exactly receive a hero’s welcome, and it became a barn find with time.

However, upon its discovery in a barn near San Francisco, the 911 S/T was little more than a wrecked shell. For this reason, it was shipped to the experts at the Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur in Zuffenhausen for a full restoration.

Between realigning the bare body and fabricating the missing panels from scratch, the team invested more than 1,000 hours of meticulous craftsmanship in the bodywork alone. Even still, you’d never guess from the result that this particular Porsche 911 was once in need of so much attention.

Yellow vintage Porsche 911 race car with black racing stripes, number 41 on the door, additional front-mounted rally lights, and sponsor decals including Shell and Cibie, parked indoors on a concrete floor with a blue shipping container and industrial walls in the background. — You’d never guess that the two cars are the same after Porsche’s extensive restoration work.

To ensure that the resurrected Le Mans racer would live on for years to come, Porsche sealed the bare body with a state-of-the-art corrosion protection known as cathodic dip coating.

Once it was shod in its original Light Yellow, code 117 paint, it was finally delivered to its owner, who then added the period-correct sponsor decals and class-winning 41 race starting number.

To call it an ordeal is an understatement. The process took Porsche two and a half years, and the automaker finally delivered the car back in 2016.

Two yellow Porsche sports cars are parked inside a concrete garage with an open door. The car on the left is a modern Porsche 911 with a sleek design, black wheels, and racing decals including the number 41 on the door. The car on the right is a classic Porsche 911 with round headlights, black racing stripes, and the number 41 on the hood. Both cars have "Toad Hall" and "Cibie" decals. A green leafy tree is visible outside through the open garage door. — The owner commissioned a 2024 911 S/T in the same shade of Light Yellow, code 117 paint.

Recreating a classic

Not content to settle there, though, the owner eventually commissioned a replica based on the limited-run 2024 911 S/T.

Accordingly, the Porsche Sonderwunsch program created the homage you see before you by giving the car a coat of Light Yellow, code 117 paint identical to that of the 1972 Le Mans GT class winner.

Two yellow Porsche sports cars with the number 41 on their doors and hoods are parked indoors in front of a large blue shipping container. The car on the left is a classic model with round headlights and additional rally lights on the front bumper. The car on the right is a modern model with sleek, aerodynamic lines and black racing stripes on the hood. Both cars have black wheels and various sponsor decals, including "Shell" and "Cibie." The setting is an industrial-style building with large windows and exposed wooden beams. — From the matching livery to the shared, driver-first spirit, these two cars manage to bridge a gap of over 40 years.

Porsche completed the look with forged magnesium wheels in a subtle Darksilver to mimic the classic Fuchs, as well as a set of black brake calipers and a black interior.

As before, the owner then capped things off with the addition of period-correct decals. Even with over 40 years separating the two 911 models, the car bears a strong resemblance to its forebear.

Beyond the intentional aesthetic choices, though, the new S/T makes for the perfect spiritual successor because of its powertrain. A naturally aspirated (though much larger and more powerful) flat-six drives the rear wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox in a fully driver-focused package — just as things were in 1972.

Yellow vintage race car number 41, with sponsor decals including "Cibie" and "Shell," driving on a racetrack with blurred spectators in the background. — This 1972 Le Mans class-winning 911 will live on through its restored bodywork as well as its modern homage.

Whether on the road or on display, the tale of this class-winning Le Mans legend will be preserved in the sheet metal of these two Porsches for years to come.

About the Author: Gray is an associate editor at Gear Patrol, covering cars, motorcycles and anything else with wheels. When he’s not chasing the latest industry news, he’s probably wrenching on one of many projects. For better or worse, he believes classics make perfectly practical daily drivers.

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