1968 Porsche 911 Race Car

If you’re racing a 911 and it’s feeling twitchy in a high-speed turn, just hang in there, it will be okay. Above all, do NOT lift

While the Porsche 911 has amassed an unmatched record of racing successes, its entry into road racing was not initially championed by Zuffenhausen. With the exception of the 911R for 1967 and a short run of European rally-prepared 911L models, factory support was non-existent.

Racing drivers interested in piloting a 911 had to do so on their own. The car presented here, however, has a very early and successful racing history and was campaigned by Milestone Racing for the 1968 season in the year-old SCCA Trans Am Under Two-Liter division. Marvin Davidson at Milestone hired the 27-year old Tony Adamowicz to drive, and the Milestone Porsche 911 made its first appearance at the Daytona 24 Hours. Unfortunately, a wreck in this first race placed the team’s future in jeopardy.

Luckily, they managed to use the shell of a 912 and married it to many of the parts from the first car, upgrading it to 911 specs in the process. Their efforts proved successful; Milestone won six of the ten races that season. Following its successful season, the car was sold by Milestone in early 1969. Thereafter, however, it disappeared for nearly 30 years.

In the late 1990s, Adamowicz and a fellow Porsche enthusiast decided to go vintage racing together and embarked on an exhaustive search for the old Milestone car. Just as they were about to settle on a similar 912, they discovered the original car in time-capsule condition after having been converted to street use.

Following restoration, the 1968 911 Race Car was displayed at the Porsche Rennsport reunion in 2007. Featured in Dave Freidman’s book, Trans Am, The Pony Car Wars 1966-72, the importance of this Porsche cannot be underestimated. In many ways its success proved the viability of Porsche’s 911 as a capable racing car. It remains a glorious American piece of Porsche’s Rennsport heritage.