Title: Carrera 2.7 The Soul of Porsche’s Legendary Carrera 2.7 RS Lives on Within the Carrera 2.7 MFI

Author: Ryan Snodgrass

Binding: Hardbound, slip cased

Weight: 7.5 lbs.

Pages: 406

Publisher: Parabolica Press

Price: Regular edition $250 USD; Special signed edition $350 USD

Review by Wallace Wyss –

There are two kinds of car books, the very low cost ones, like mine, that are $20 retail (and $13 on Amazon) and then on the far far end, there are books that are not only coffee table books weight-wise and production quality-wise but intended to be The Last Word on some particular car.

This book, by Ryan Snodgrass, sets new boundaries in what should be in the ultimate one model car book. It tips the scales at 7.5-pounds, it boasts 406 pages and has no less than 830 beautifully reproduced high-resolution photos, more than half of which have never been in other Porsche books.

EURO MODEL

For those to whom “Euro model” is a magic phrase, sort of a kicker in their coffee, it also covers the ‘74-76 G-series Euro Carrera 2.7, some of which may have made their way to America.

The Euro version of the 1976 Carrera 2.7 was similar in spec to the ‘73 Carrera 2.7 RS. The difference is the ‘74-76 Carrera 2.7 was built on an impact bumper body and interior, instead of the earlier long hood form (thence earning the name the “short hood” version”).

The weight and horsepower output of the later Carreras 2.7 is virtually identical to the ’73 Carrera 2.7 RS, and both used the Typ 911/83 2.7-liter RS-spec MFI engine.

Snodgrass got the idea for his book after seeing Georg Konradsheim’s Carrera RS book and after contacting that author he was introduced to the RS book’s designer Christoph Mäder, who ended up designing Ryan’s book.

A RARE MODEL

I opened this book still a bit mystified on why Author Snodgrass picked this particular car, a model produced for only two years. I suspect the no. 1 reason is the great drivability, but the production numbers are significant as well—only 1,635 coupes and 630 Targas made.

When writing my Incredible Barn Finds books, I discovered the number 1,000 is sort of a magic number. If you can get a car where the total output of a particular model was close to 1,000, you have something rare, like under 1,200 Ferrari Daytonas, under 1,500 Mercedes Gullwings, etc. The Carrera 2.7 is not quite as rare as its predecessor, the 1973 Carrera RS, which had production total of 1,590 units, but it is rare enough to be nominated as a new “gotta have it” car for those building a collection of the greatest Porsches.

I also think that small number made makes this model a “reachable” subject in that it is a small enough subject to be able to find everything that is known about the car and put on paper.

What makes this model of 911 so special? I gather it is because it evolved from the RS Carrera, a more specialized car groomed for racing but still street drivable. Plus the fact that the Carrera 2.7 isn’t overly computerized (as today’s cars are) and still has some mechanical things like Bosch mechanical fuel injection.

Also as another critic pointed out, the RS Carrera got lots of ink but this car–its worthy successor–has been ignored. Well, it’s not ignored any more–this book covers so much ground, from upholstery colors to showing every factory color to chassis numbers, engine numbers, on and on that it surely will be noticed now and appreciate more.

Plus, as an extra added attraction Snodgrass tosses in, including obscure cars created for those with clout (Kings, movie stars, etc.) race cars and rare accessories, some of which can make a car more valuable now that it can be shown that, yes, indeed they did offer that on a few cars .

I like the stories he presents of individual race cars like one raced in Angola. As a barn finder historian, that’s one of the favorite fantasies I like to include where applicable—the dream of finding a precious car in some far flung corner of the globe where no one there knows how to fix it or what to do with it.

COLOR ON THE WRONG SUBJECTS?

As a one time publisher myself, I have to wonder why he devoted color pictures to ordinary things like the box that a spark plug comes in or an ordinary pliers that comes in the tool kit? Maybe I go back to an earlier time when space for color pictures was precious and, back then, I would save color only for significant pictures—of the cars themselves, of the cars at races, of special models but surely a pliers in the tool kit is not worthy of color, is it? Maybe that’s just me.

LITERATURE HIGHLIGHTED

He also goes into the literature even showing it year by year and market by market (UK version, etc.) and showing the color covers of the various factory brochures and even workshop manuals. Those who can’t afford the car yet collect literature collectors and I even have a literature story to tell—I bought a Ferrari once when a 330GTC owner baulked at my price for the manual and I said “If you sell me the car you won’t need the manual.” He did.

The list of minutia is impressive, page after page of tiny changes to the engine, drive trains, etc.

In sum, the amount of scholarship evident in this Porsche book is what makes it worth it if you are a 911 fan. Couple that with super production quality (the best paper, the best printing). I think it will re-focus Porsche collectors’ attention on that particular model and have an actual effect on their appreciation as buyers can, with this book as a reference be sure the car they are looking at is “right.”

Snodgrass has raised the bar on what we expect in a car book. My books are short, snappy, and low priced but I don’t know if I would have the years to devote to a single car as thoroughly as he did. I applaud him for his effort, and I think it’s devotees like him that make the Porsche world special.

Let us know what you think in the Comments.

THE REVIEWER: Wallace Wyss is the author of the Incredible Barn Finds series. His newest, cover themed about Janis Joplin’s Porsche 356, will be out in December from Enthusiast Books (715) 381 9755.

Carrera 2.7: The Soul of the Legendary Carrera 2.7 RS Lives on Within the Carrera 2.7 MFI – available on Amazon – click here.