Book Review: Porsche 911 R

A large package landed on my desk just before Christmas, and being weightier than normal my interest was aroused, so I immediately tackled the packaging to reveal the contents. It was the latest offering from T.A.G Motor Books, a 384-page tome on the Porsche 911 R. This was a book that justifiably jumped the order of books that I have to review, and so it was a case of ‘last in first out,’ which might amuse the accountants out there.
The world has changed, but this bit of news won’t surprise many readers. Back in the 1960s, sports cars tended to be somewhat basic in nature and definitely performance orientated. Those high-performance sports cars intended for racing, tended to be even more spartan when it came to comfort, and harsher in terms of suspension, some might even say brutish. But then the concept of comfort in a sports car was unheard of. After all, you bought a sports car for what it was, and if you wanted comfort, well then you selected a different type of car to suit your needs.

The Porsche 911 R was never intended as a roadgoing sports car, it was built to race, even if it did look like a stripped-out road car. The ride was harsh, and having been driven in one, the sound from the engine is brutal, especially in a cabin devoid of any sound deadening. But we are getting ahead of ourselves, as one needs to understand where the company stood when the 911 R was produced.