Carrera RS Book
Not only hardcore ‘Porschephiles’ are familiar with the first edition of this book: “Carrera RS” (meaning the 1973 Carrera RS 2.7) set new benchmarks for a single-model monograph in 1992. Published in a limited edition, the work was soon out of print despite its self-confident pricing and, due to the lack of a new edition, became a sought-after must-have.
As a reviewer I still remember well the search for a used copy and my facial expressions in view of the four-digit sums called for, preferably with a ‘2’ in front. Tempi passati: Christoph Mäder and the publisher T.A.G Motorbooks have launched a carefully revised, expanded re-edition, redesigned by his experienced hand. As with the first edition, Dr. Georg Konradsheim and Dr. Thomas Gruber were responsible for the content. In cooperation with the Porsche works archive, a great deal of new detailed knowledge and a wealth of exclusive visual material were incorporated, which has now turned the already extensive ancestor into a four-kilogram tome. And this without fillers or redundances: The wealth of facts in this volume is best characterised by the term ‘complete’.
It begins with an extensive chapter on the history of the ‘title’ Carrera, then Konradsheim and Gruber enter the ‘Porsche Middle Ages’ and explain the prehistory, planning and development of the RS 2.7 using various models and their historical classification. This, by the way, also provides a comprehensive presentation of the Porsche 916 in matryoshka style, which in its depth and precision would have justified a booklet of its own. The following 330 pages are all about the real deal: The RS 2.7 is x-rayed from the production process through technical details (divided into individual chapters for each assembly) to equipment, special models, marketing and motorsports use.
The model changes during production, which are listed on seven pages with exact dates, and the appendix with chassis, transmission and engine numbers (keyword ‘matching numbers’), make the book very practical for dealers and restorers: As this information is of an official character due to the cooperation with Porsche, replicas of this classic car, which is currently barely offered for less than 500,000 €, can be uncovered in no time at all. Also model car friends can help themselves diligently: After reading the sections on colors and decors, some of the approximately 100 different 1/43 models of the street version available in shops and on model car markets can easily be classified as fantasy creations (or, with good will, as having been created via the Special Wishes programme of Porsche), and the originals to the approximately 180 miniatures of the RSR 2.8 sports version, which was created with order code M491, can often be found in the richly illustrated chapter ‘Sport’, which alone is 90 pages long.
It is fascinating how authors and designers have succeeded in turning all this into a successful synthesis of reference work, reading book and magnificent volume instead of a dust-dry encyclopaedia. Not quite inexpensive, but more than worth the price!
Images: T.A.G. Motorbooks
Dr. Georg Konradsheim, Dr. Thomas Gruber
T.A.G. Verlag, Wien, 2015
433 pages
ISBN 9783950491104
Price 438 €
Direct sale at T.A.G. Motorbooks
