Spotted: Porsche 911 RSR Tribute

Restomods have become so prominent that some people are kind of over them, but long before the restomod was the 'backdate', which in South East Asia, could be described as 'same same, but different'. The thing with a backdate, rather than creating a modern interpretation of an old car, is that it takes a car from an era with good performance and brakes, whilst using bodywork from older models to make it look exactly the way its commissioner wants.

This has typically been most prominent in Porsche 911s because the original model's chassis and body ran all the way from 1964 to 1989, so bodywork and parts are super easy to interchange depending on the look you want to go for. If you asked me what look I'd want to go for, I think I've found it! Our friends at The Octane Collection are no strangers to special 911s, selling all manner of RS models and backdates from the likes of Singer, and this RSR Tribute is a real stunner.

Inspired by the Carrera RSR racers of the early '70s, this car started life as a 1978 SC. Since then it has been stripped back to bare metal and was rebuilt in 2017 as a widebody with correctly-shaped RSR wings front and rear, and finished in stunning Signal Orange which is covered in full PPF.

It has a 3.5-litre 930 engine with mechanical fuel injection, JE pistons and original RSR sprint cams putting out 310hp and 380lb/ft of torque, way more than any classic 911 I've driven before! The power is tamed by a 915 gearbox, factory LSD, Carbon12 brakes and Bilstein suspension so it's more than just a show pony, although it does look absolutely stunning with those arches, a ducktail spoiler, period graphics and those lovely deep-dish Fuchs wheels. It even has spotlights to evoke the feel of that era of endurance racing! Oh, and there's an RSR style exhaust which The Octane Collection say 'ensures the acoustics are a match for the performance' — lovely!

Inside, there are period correct bucket seats with classic Pepita inserts with harnesses attached to the half roll cage. The dash features genuine backdated dials and an RS wheel for better reach, handy as there's no reach adjustment on these old 911s. The gear linkages, pedal assembly and gearstick have been fully stripped and rebuilt, and everything down to the door cards and carpets are period correct, with leather straps as door handles in keeping with the RSR theme.

Check out the full story and all the close up photos of this awesome 911 here.