Riviera Blue Porsche 993 Carrera RS

If any two letters have encapsulated Porsche’s sporting prowess over the years, it is these – RS.
It is now forty-seven years since the introduction of Porsche’s first RS, the iconic 911 Carrera RS 2.7, back in 1973. For Porsche, the letters RS, which stand for Rennsport, brings to mind today rich images of sporting achievement and excellence, and of impressive roadgoing performance earned the hard way through countless racing victories. To its credit, the Stuttgart manufacturer has ensured that since ‘73, each successive major evolution of the 911 has featured the RS badge in its line-up, and each has in turn taken the sub-model to a new level of performance.

Two decades later, at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1993, Porsche unveiled its all-new 3.6-litre Type 993 model, the first 911 to be completely redesigned from the ground up. It was, however, only in ‘95 at the Amsterdam Auto Show, that the Carrera RS was introduced featuring a larger 3746 cc engine with Porsche’s innovative Varioram induction system. The motivation for producing the 993 Carrera RS was for homologation in the N/GT motorsport class. It was developed from the outset as a street-legal two-seater sports car, much along the lines that has inspired the design and manufacture of top performing road cars at Porsche since the early days. In the mid-90s, the 993 Carrera RS represented the pinnacle of road-legal performance in the 911 non-turbo stakes, and with the 993 being the last of the air-cooled cars, that elevates the model still further.