Launched just before Christmas, the latest Porsche offering from the publishing house, 964 Carrera RS by Mäder Morse Field Recordings GmbH, is now available. Author Christoph Mäder is no stranger to publications covering the Porsche marque and already has a string of highly impressive titles to his name.
So, why the 964 Carrera RS? The Type 964 was important in the Porsche story because it was ‘potentially’ the model that could have witnessed the end of the 911 family line. Company sales were dismal, and for a time the model’s future lay in the balance. The transaxle models were seen as the future for the manufacturer, and to promote this, the 924 Challenge Trophy began in Great Britain in 1978. Other transaxle race cars were raced, including at the Le Mans 24 Hours, until in 1986, when the Porsche Turbo Cup (now 944 Turbo) was launched by Helmuth Bott. He maintained that by putting such recognizable sports cars on the track with well-known names behind the wheel, it would attract plenty of attention. He was right.
The only problem was that, according to Porsche 924 designer, and later Porsche’s Chief Designer, Harm Lagaaij, confirmed, “No, the 924 wasn’t designed for motorsport, it was always the 911 which carried the motorsport image.” By 1990, on the motorsport front, Porsche seemed to be up the creek without a paddle: the company was no longer developing the 962 Group C car, its F1 Footwork-Arrows project had been halted, and the 944 Turbo Cup wasn’t producing the results hoped for.
The answer was to present a better, lighter, faster 911 (Type 964) with which to go racing. Trouble was, the regulations required the race car to be so close to its production roots that it would be uncompetitive. The solution was to develop a lightweight 964 for the road, to enable Porsche to take the 964 racing. This led to the launch of the 964 Carrera RS at the British International Motor Show in October 1990. The 3.6-litre Carrera RS offered track-ready features but was still a street-legal car, albeit with much stiffer suspension. Homologation of this model allowed the N/GT model to be developed for racing.
Production numbers have always worried the Sales Dept at Porsche, as enthusiasts can recall the introduction of the Carrera RS in 1973. Back then, the salespeople were concerned that they wouldn’t sell all the cars produced if they were aimed solely at racing drivers. This led to the introduction of the Touring model, which catered for drivers who desired the car’s sporting looks but had no intention of racing it. The same concerns faced the Porsche Sales Dept in 1990, and so a Touring version of the 964 Carrera RS was created to ensure all the cars were sold.
As the 964 lifecycle was drawing to a close in 1994, a special, limited production of just ninety units of the 3.8-litre Carrera RS street-legal cars was produced. Apart from the larger engine, the model boasted a racing-focused interior, wider Turbo body, stronger brakes and suspension. This model gave rise to the potent 3.8-litre Carrera RSR, a pure-bred racer.
The Book
For the reader, the 964 Carrera RS offers a comprehensive dive into the model in all its dimensions. The book opens with the origins of the 964 generation and the creation of the 1990 Carrera Cup, from which the Carrera RS was born. It then follows every derivative in the RS family—including the Touring, Clubsport, RS/RSR 3.8, and the Carrera Cup USA and RS America models. The latter two, while closely related, cannot strictly be regarded as true Carrera RS variants.
An analysis of the market competition in 1990 provides a useful comparison for the reader, showing what the Porsche development team needed to consider. Sprinkled throughout are useful tables that compare models and show the differences between road- and race-focused models. Also provided, where relevant, are comprehensive tables that allow the reader to examine a complete list of car details by VIN and by year of production, detailing paint and interior colours when each car left the factory.
Since the Carrera RS and Carrera Cup cars are closely related, a good deal of the text is devoted to Cup races, with results and driver rankings for each year the 964 competed. The popularity of the Carrera Cup races was massive, leading to the creation of a second tier of competition that offered drivers in the Carrera Trophy cars from the previous year. The creation of the Carrera Cup injected such interest in the 911 model in the early 1990s that the racing series is still running today, and is the envy of most rival manufacturers.
The Porsche engineers didn’t stop with the Carrera 2 (C2), Carrera 4 (C4), Carrera RS, Carrera Cup, as the line-up included the C4 Leichtbau (Lightweight), offered in 1991, and limited to just twenty units. The final offering was the 3.8-litre version, as mentioned above.
What You Get
The book comprises 442 pages and is printed on high-quality paper. The page design is attractive and uncluttered, and the photography is of the top order. The book is available in two versions: Standard or Special Edition. The Standard version is limited to a total of 2,824 copies in either English (1,600 copies), German (964 copies) or French (only 260 copies). The English standard version is Rubystone Red over Black and comes in a black slipcase.
In addition to the print run above, just 964 numbered copies of the Special Edition will be printed. This linen-bound version is professionally handcrafted by a bookbinding company and is available in four colorr combinations. The color-by-choice option is offered at a premium, and is available as follows:
- 300 Rubystone Red (180 English + 120 German)
- 300 Maritime Blue (180 English + 120 German)
- 200 Pearl Grey (120 English + 80 German)
- 164 Amazon Green (98 English + 66 German)
It goes without saying that this publication is an absolute must for 964 Carrera RS owners and enthusiasts. This is a superb work and will, in time, become the ‘go-to’ source for information on this model. Order your copy while you still can.
Key information
- Title: 964 Carrera RS
- Author: Christoph Mäder
- Publisher: Mäder Morse Field Recordings GmbH
- Published: November 2025
- Edition: First Edition
- ISBN: 9 783 912 090-01-7 (English version)
- Format: 257 x 297 x 44 mm (size of the book block), Portrait, hardback with dust jacket
- Page count: 442 pages
- Images: over 750 photographs (B&W and colour)
- Price: Standard – €366.36; Special Edition – €459.81 (both editions, excluding the applicable national VAT)
- Available HERE
Written by: Glen Smale
Images by: Mäder Morse Field Recordings
