Leonard bought this car in 2008. He tells the following story:

With great help from Hette Mollema and Wim de Mooij, I acquired the matching numbers Carrera which Ben Pon (Racing Team Holland; Related to Dutch Porsche importers) allegedly drove, or at least owned, at the end of 1973. He ordered this car in Vipergruen Metallic. Another enthusiast has had his way with the body of the car, but at least the engine and gearbox are the original ones and in decent shape. The bodywork is lightweight and professionally done, so I could keep the car like this for years. The suspension was still standard, so initially we weren’t swapping this car into a real racer.

The car is number 9114600047, which puts it between IROC chassis #42 and 50 (see Starkey). The car has an amazing presence and is in very good metal fettle.

Along with the usual fine tuning and fettling of engine and suspension we were faced with a new challenge: 10.5 x 15 and 14 x 15 Fuchs wheels: where do you find those? I contacted Mr Keller in Leverkusen, Germany for help and we met at Techno Classica to decide how to best fill those enormous wheel wells! This was also the point at which my wife started to call the car ‘The Hulk’. It stuck.

After some quiet time over Easter I came to the conclusion that the ’74 Carrera was the easiest car to take from road to race. The bodywork on the car was so well done that would have been a darn shame to rip off and make original. I can always do that in the future. The body panels are pretty, but as far as I know not factory originals, so a small dent won’t destroy Sports Purpose History.

The interior was so minimalistic that I just needed to take the felt out. I found a type of cage that, even when welded in, allows for an easy in-out passage, so even later in life would not inhibit street usage. The 2.7 engine had been opened up and needed a full renovation, pistons, cylinders and all, after which it was due into the yellow RSR to get some road, rally and track exercise. Gearbox was being replaced by the 915 one from the RSR with original LSD and cooler.  Windows can go into a big box for posterity, together with the heat exchangers. Lightweight windows all around.

The car went on a Celette jig, which allows exact straightening of the tub if required. Reinforcements were welded onto the rear bridge between the shock towers, onto the torsion bar mounts and onto the shock towers themselves. Naturally a shock tower bridge was to be welded in. The cage went in painted contrasting Continental Orange.

The 3.0 RSR engine which will be undergoing inspection was to be slipped into The Hulk, and I was applying for the 3053 homologation-based HTP from FIA. Somehow the S/T and the ’74 3.0 RSR are the hot cars to go racing in here in Europe as it seemed everybody was building one of these cars. Decision made: 3.0 RSR with perfectly functioning sliding roof!

The RSR 3.0 engine was disassembled and the surprises were not nice. Back then I could have written a book about the risks of buying somebody else’s engine. To cut an embarrassing story short: I found ancillary expertise and help. The wrong materials were returned to the seller and the correct materials sourced. Actually, some really beautiful components were sourced.

In 2011 the new High Butterfly based MFI engine was first put to use, and we won the then new Dutch Historic GT & Touring Car Championship for 1966-1981 cars. The lower block has all the right parts, including original Schrick center-lubricated camshafts. We have since helped out several other racing shops in Europe with the conversion.

After winning the Championship a second time in 2014, we decided to invest in Slide Valves, which we carry in our shop as well, and on the rolling road it showed a healthy 45% pick up in torque in the mid range revs. That bodes well for the new season!

The final spec of the engine:

The Hulk has not only driven 4 championship seasons in its present lure, but it also participated in the 2014 BergMeister Tour for R Gruppe.

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