1973.5 911T Sportomatic Coupe

One of my favorite 911 models of all time is the 1973.5 911T, what is with the weird half-year designation you ask? Likely to meet ever increasing fuel economy and emissions goals Porsche was planning to phase out its Mechanical Fuel Injection System (MFI) with the then new Bosch CIS fuel injection system which would debut across the product line and around the globe in 1974 (with a few rare exceptions). Luckily for us Porsche introduced this system to us first, in the final half year of USA model 911T’s and the final year for the F-body (long hood) model. To me it is an absolute sweet spot; one gets the delightful long hood styling and driving dynamics coupled with amazing drivability, impressive fuel economy and easy maintenance. I would HIGHLY recommend a 1973.5 model to anyone looking for his or her first F-body or for a driver, amazing!

This particular 73.5 is quite unique on many levels… Heavily optioned from the factory including a power sunroof, forged wheels, Koni shocks, F&R stabilizer bars, tinted glass, leather interior to sample and a Sportomatic! This car would have been more expensive in period than a more commonly optioned 911S!

I don’t know much about the early history of this 911T but the trail starts with an enthusiast owner in Auburn, CA in the early 2000’s. He entrusted the car to the marque experts at Renntech who did an extensive amount of mechanical work including a complete engine and transmission rebuild (less than 7,000 miles ago). In 2013 the car ended up in the expert hands of Road Scholars and they commissioned a staggering $37,000 worth of restoration work including a complete glass out repaint to a very high standard with reassembly and detailing work handed over to the experts at Chris’ German in Redmond, WA. The car was then sold to a Road Scholars client who later enlisted the crew at Workshop 5001 in Los Angeles to sell the car for him. My client purchased the car and subsequently had them complete an additional $33,000 on a litany of small items to make sure the car met his particular standard. In total over $85k has been spent on this car in the past 8,000 miles to make this car sing! What a car….

For those not familiar with the Sportomatic transmission, it is a quite an interesting piece! The transmission is a derivative of a standard 901 based 4-speed but it used a hydraulic torque converter and a single dry plate clutch with a 2600rpm stall speed. It uses a vacuum servo to disengage the clutch when you place your hand of the shift knob (microswitch in the lever). So it has two pedals like a traditional automatic, but the user still shifts gear like any other Porsche. Driving these is quite interesting as you generally start in 2^nd gear and let the torque converter spool it up to the fat part of the torque curve on this car (these 2.4’s need to rev!) take it to Redline and then move to third and so forth! For rapid acceleration start in 1^st, but generally 2^nd gear starts are the modus operandi. Around town these are a blast and such a different flavor! Come give it a try.

The body, paint and trim on this car are remarkable, you would be proud to take this car to any Porsche event.  925 paint code silver is SUCH an elegant color on this car and the Leather to sample red interior literally just makes the car POP! A few tasteful liberties were taken aesthetically that I think improve the car such as the removal of the 1973 front bumperettes (hideous!), installation of bright rear bumperettes (73 had black), H4 Headlights, 380mm steering wheel w/ hockey puck horn button. These small things give this car just the right “attitude”….

The car comes complete with:

• Certificate of Authenticty verifying the options and the matching numbers engine and transmission.
• History documenting all the above work in an organized 3-ring binder
• Original owners manual
• Original 400mm steering wheel and fog lights

This is certainly one of the more unique early 911’s I have been tasked with selling. Sure you could stick with regular chocolate ice cream (always a safe and delicious choice) but every so often I crave Pistachio… Life is too short to drive boring, ordinary cars….