However, the true dry weight was even lower, in fact just 780 kg, as they later realized the car had still been carrying around 15l of fuel when it was weighed.

For the 1970 Tour de France Automobile, Porsche didn’t want to rely on a fragile prototype over the notoriously bumpy French roads. They believed the reliability of a bulletproof 911 would outlast the factory-entered Matra prototypes - a strategy that had already proven successful the year before with the overall win of a 911 R with no other than Larrousse behind the wheel. 

What they hadn’t anticipated, however, was that in an act of distinctly Gallic patriotism, the French authorities had large sections of the route freshly resurfaced, effectively rolling out a particularly smooth ribbon of tarmac for the usually circuit-bound Matra prototypes. Despite this home advantage, the 911 demonstrated its versatility, and Larrousse led the event overall until the very final day. Only then did a clutch problem drop him back to third place behind the two open Matra MS 650s of Beltoise/Depailler/Todt and Pescarolo/Jabouille/Rives.

The car in question, chassis 911 030 1127, was one of seven factory 911 S/Ts built for 1970 and was originally painted Tangerine. #1127 first competed in a major rally in Austria before serving as a Porsche service vehicle during the Acropolis Rally. After those outings, Porsche’s competition department selected one chassis to prepare specifically for the Tour de France - and 1127 was the chosen car.

As a works S/T, it was already significantly lighter than a standard 911, featuring numerous lightweight components derived from the 911 R, including doors, windows, and lighting units. For the Tour, Porsche developed additional one-off parts and drilled virtually everything in sight. The footrest, door hinges, pedal boards, and even the jacking points were not spared the drill. 

Incidentally, the car was powered by a 2,395 cc engine (bored out accordingly) fitted with titanium connecting rods and twin triple-choke Weber carburetors. With a redline of 8,000 rpm, it produced over 250 hp and propelled the car to a top speed of 243 km/h.  Remarkably, this 911 S/T had the same power-to-weight ratio as a modern Porsche 911 R.

The lightest factory 911 ever –Larrousse’s 911 S/T for the 1970 TdF Automobile. Legend has it that when Larrousse went to the factory to inspect the car, it weighed 810 kg. He promised the mechanics a bottle of champagne for every kilo they could shave off below 800 kg. They got it down to 789 kg.