This is a great chance to own not just a unique car that is rarely offered in the market, but one that has a very exciting history to tell. The 1974 Porsche 911 IROC RSR previously owned by infamous Pablo Escobar.
In 1974, the International Race of Champions (IROC) was conceptualized. The idea was to have 12 identical cars to be raced by 12 drivers just to see who was the best. The first series was held using 1974 Porsche 911 RSR’s that were designed specifically for the race.
They produced 15 cars: 12 were to be used by the drivers, with 3 more cars as spares. The drivers picked were: Peter Revson, Mark Donohue, David Pearson, Bobby Unser, AJ Foyt, Richard Petty, George Fullmer, Emerson Fittipaldi, Bobby Allison, Dennis Hulme, Roger McClusky, and Gordon Johncock.
Since it was also the time that new color TVs were introduced also introduced in the market, they painted each car in a different color.
The car on offer is the Fittipaldi car. Roger Penske was the original owner and he brought it to the US. The example’s chain of ownership is unbroken. One of the owners is the infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar. Photos can easily be found on the internet when he raced it with the 935 bodywork.
Under the custody of John Tunstall, the example became the only IROC RSR with an IMSA racing history.
It is a once in a blue moon event that these type of car goes on sale. The Donohue car was previously sold. Jerry Seinfeld sold the Revson car for $2.31 million.
The example has been professionally restored. It is race ready, or it can simply be added to the new owner’s collection. Full documentation on the example is available as well as numerous photos in the file.
Recommend a pre purchase inspection by a sniffer dog.
I was part the crew for this car’s last IMSA competition, the 1978 Daytona 24Hr. John had sold a ride to Steve “Yogi” Behr out of New York. Steve had “Le Chanteclaire Restaurant N.Y. painted on rear fenders, the significance of which was lost on me at time. We did have a laugh that the local sign painter had misspelled restaurant on one side. As a crew, we were a mixed group. My employer & mentor, Tom Cripe dealt with the drive line, which left a very inexperienced me working with the chassis. The balance of the crew were some of John’s friends, including some local sheriff deputies (John Tunstall had been on the Force) without much familiarity of race cars, let alone Porsche’s. It was no accident that the cars number was 54, Car 54 where are you??? By that time the car had been converted over to center lock wheels, which required some knowledge of use. One could mount the wheel on top of the locating dowels of the hub instead of into them if no attention was paid to how much of the center hub stuck out through the center of the wheel. More on this later…
While struggling with an intermittent engine misfire through practice and qualifying, I remember that somehow a fairly decent time was turned and the car started about mid-pack. At the start of the race, the train came off the rails, or rather a front wheel left the car at turn one. I will never forget having to run half the length of the pits with a full size shop floor jack, and getting it under fence to the driver. Only the driver could reinstall the wheel or the car would have been DQed. It never really got much better after, with multiple pit stops for the worsening engine misfire. Mercifully, the flywheel worked loose (the 6 bolt crankshaft & flywheel having been “repaired” after the last race due to lack of funds) and the car was retired before 11:00 PM. I remember hearing that the car was sold to someone in South America soon after. Racing Porsche’s cost a lot more than mere mortals could afford, even back then. I still remember fondly of a time when a local team could show up at an international event and compete, or at least run with, the racing superstars of the day. Even if it was on a shoestring and took months to prepare for. Sadly, those days are history.
Even with all the trials and tribulations, I remember it as a interesting “learning experience” that I wouldn’t trade for anything. I’m just glad I didn’t mount the wheels that morning! And I have been able to say ever since that I have worked on an ex Fittipaldi IROC race car that was once owned by Pablo Escobar.
Rex Hosfeld
German Cars of Sarasota
(Retired)
P.S. I might know where the original chassis plate is for this car…….