Porsche-Almond Surfboard Collaboration Pays Tribute To 1972 Carrera RS 2.7

Porsche is paying slightly unorthodox tribute to the 911 Carrera RS 2.7 with a specially-developed surfboard as part of a collaborative project with California-based Almond Surfboards. Just 72 will be made in-keeping with the RS debut back in 1972, all of which will be presented in one of three color schemes – Grand Prix White, with red, blue or green accenting – celebrating the sports car’s launch colors.

Each limited-edition board, which marks Porsche’s second consecutive collaborative project with Almond following a celebration of the German brand’s 1960s line-up last year, is now available from $3,000 apiece at Porsche’s online store.

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Carrera Colors And Signature Headline Surfboard Design

Handmade to order in California, each six-foot surfboard is constructed from polyurethane foam and basswood stringers. Each is slightly wider than Almond’s conventional models though, and, in a nod to the Carrera RS’ unique silhouette features a narrower swallowtail. Handily, the sharp taper of this design helps generate higher speed and, um, grip on the larger waves. Got to carve those waves after all.

This composite is then wrapped in a fiberglass shell, on top of which a 72 and the Porsche crest have been stenciled. In a fitting touch, and in a nod to the Carrera’s vibrantly-colored Fuchsfelge wheels, each board’s fin will also be finished in either blue, red, or green. The Carrera name, complete with its timeless signature, has also been incorporated.

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Interested customers can purchase bespoke items from an accompanying lifestyle collection, including t-shirts and sweatshirts – both embroidered with the board’s clunkily-named Single Fins & Air Cooled Engines theme – a canvas tote bag, beach towels adorned with the Carrera RS 2.7 design, boardshorts, and a die-cast model of the Carrera RS itself. Perhaps the most uninspired – and, ironically, most expensive items at $115 – are the hand-made surf flags that pay tribute either to Porsche’s facilities in Zuffenhausen or Weissach.

Germany’s Fastest Sports Car

Developed on a shoestring budget, and after a surprisingly fallow racing period for the 911, the Carrera RS 2.7 owes a lot of its design to Porsche’s seminal 917. Indeed, in a bid to counter the 911’s high-speed instability, 917 engineer Hermann Burst was ushered into the project to tweak the two-seater’s gentle sloping rear, crucially, without overhauling the overall shape.

The solution? That famous ducktail, which not only produced additional downforce, reduced drag, and helped cool the rear-mounted flat-six, but also kept the 911’s famous silhouette mostly intact. 500 homologated examples were originally planned, a figure that had more than tripled when production ended late in 1973.

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Among other notable changes included wider rear tires, thinner body panels and glass (which helped drop the curb weight to a claimed 2,116 pounds), and a much stiffer suspension. The flat-six was bored out from 2.4 to 2.7 liters, increasing grunt to 207 horsepower. Among the quickest sports cars on the planet, the newly-christened Renn Sport 2.7 could hit 62 mph from standstill in 5.8 seconds, en-route to a 152 mph top speed. At the time, it was Germany’s fastest production car.

Source: Porsche