After winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the 911 GT1 in 1998, Porsche did not return to racing until 2005 with a new sports prototype – the Type 9R6, more commonly known as the RS Spyder, a name that evoked the famous open-air racing cars of the 1950s and 1960s. Porsche built its new cutting-edge sports racing car to compete in Le Mans Prototype Class 2 (LMP2), rather than the top category of LMP1. While this was a surprise to many enthusiasts, Porsche had its own reasons for developing this unique car.

First, the existing regulations for LMP1 strongly favored diesel-powered entries; Porsche had no diesel models in production and little interest in exploring the technology. Second, Porsche wanted to develop a car that could be campaigned by privateers – a more ambitious, exotic model to complement the 911 RSR and Cup cars that were the foundation of the company’s successful customer racing business. Finally, Porsche recognized the importance of the US market and IMSA’s popular American Le Mans Series (ALMS), which had rules influenced by the Le Mans classifications, a well-promoted race schedule, and competition in both LMP categories.

In the tradition of the successful 917 and 956 programs, the project went from drawing board to reality in just a few months. In June 2005, the first RS Spyder, chassis 000, drove onto the test track at Weissach in Germany.

The RS Spyder also influenced Porsche road cars in the form of the 918 Spyder, which used a V-8 engine developed from the championship-winning LMP2 racing car.

Even today, the RS Spyder maintains an enduring influence. Porsche’s latest prototype endurance racer, the recently announced 963 LMDh, is powered by a V-8 engine and will be run in collaboration with Penske Racing.

The RS Spyder presented here, chassis 9R6.702, is the second of six updated Evo-specification examples built for the 2007 racing season. Completed by Porsche Motorsport and tested at Weissach in October 2006, this car was delivered to Penske Racing’s headquarters in North Carolina that November.

In March 2007, 9R6.702 made its official debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring, after having set the fourth fastest time during the January test days. Driven by Sascha Maassen, Ryan Briscoe, and Emmanuel Collard, and wearing race no. 6, the RS Spyder faced several challenges in its maiden race and placed 23rd Overall and 8th in Class, while its sister car, chassis 9R6.703, placed 5th Overall and 2nd in Class.

After Sebring, Briscoe and Maassen’s luck steadily improved. Also in March 2007, they placed 3rd Overall and won the LMP2 Class at St. Petersburg, Florida, while in April they finished 2nd Overall as part of Porsche’s impressive 1-2-3 sweep at Long Beach, California, followed by a 4th Overall, 3rd in Class result at Houston.

From there, 9R6.702 went on to capture back-to-back overall wins, first at Salt Lake City in May and then at Lime Rock, Connecticut, in July. Later that month, Maassen and Briscoe placed 2nd Overall at Mid-Ohio, followed by a 4th Overall and 2nd in Class result at Road America, and then 3rd Overall and 2nd in Class at Mosport. After two more races, at Detroit and Petit Le Mans, the 2007 ALMS season concluded at Laguna Seca, where 9R6.702 placed 4th Overall and 2nd in Class.

Thanks to its two Overall wins and excellent results throughout the season, the no. 6 RS Spyder had helped the DHL Porsche Penske Racing team easily win the LMP2 championship with 251 total points. The car’s primary drivers, Maassen and Briscoe, also tied for 3rd Place in the driver’s standings with 186 points each, bettered only by their teammates, Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard, who shared the championship.

For 2008, DHL Porsche Penske Racing retained 9R6.702 as a third car throughout the ALMS season. While it saw little use for most of the season, in October it was entered in Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta wearing race no. 5, where Ryan Briscoe and Hélio Castroneves drove it to a sensational 1st in Class and 4th Overall finish behind the works entries from Audi and Peugeot. The final race for the RS Spyder took place later that month at the ALMS season finale at Laguna Seca, where Briscoe and Castroneves once again drove it, placing 6th Overall and 4th in Class.

After 9R6.702 was retired from racing, it was sold to Christian Zugel, the German-born entrepreneur, racing driver, and collector of historic competition cars. The RS Spyder remained in his care until 2014, when the current owner, a discerning American collector, added it to his exceptional stable of Porsche racing cars.

In September 2015, 9R6.702 returned to Laguna Seca to take part in Rennsport Reunion V. There, the RS Spyder was entrusted to professional racing driver Jeroen Bleekemolen, who not only won the Group 6 race, but also set the fastest lap of the race and the entire weekend. Aside from another outing at Rennsport Reunion VI in September 2018 and private test sessions, the RS Spyder has seen limited competitive use over the past decade. As a result, 9R6.702 presents today in superb order, still wearing its iconic DHL livery with race no. 5 from its final outings during the 2008 ALMS season.

The consignor, who has owned two other RS Spyders, describes 9R6.702 as an “extremely exciting and remarkably user-friendly prototype racing car. The thrill of shifting this engine at 10,000 rpm and taking turns flat out in fifth and sixth gear, with complete control, is like none I’ve ever experienced. The brakes and aerodynamics are just phenomenal. This is the last prototype racing car a collector will be able to buy from Porsche, and you don’t need a team of people to run it.”

In total, Porsche built just 17 RS Spyders between 2005 and 2008. These cars were the dominant LMP2 entry for several seasons, winning three consecutive ALMS championships, and counting an overall victory at Sebring and two class wins at Petit Le Mans among their many laurels. The RS Spyder was the ultimate Porsche of its era, a technological tour de force, which hailed the company’s return to the height of international endurance racing.

Surely among the most significant RS Spyders, 9R6.702 was an integral part of Penske Racing’s back-to-back ALMS championships, capturing two outright wins and four additional podium finishes in 2007, along with LMP2 class wins across both seasons. Beyond these important distinctions, this RS Spyder competed at the 12 Hours of Sebring – one of the world’s most important endurance races – and was campaigned by the era’s best drivers. It is also finished in the vivid DHL livery that has become synonymous with the model. Since its retirement after the 2008 season, this car has benefited from the care of just two knowledgeable private collectors and has been seldom seen except for appearances at Rennsport Reunion in 2015 and 2018.

Never offered for public sale, 9R6.702 represents a singular opportunity to acquire one of the most important examples of a historically significant, state-of-the-art Porsche prototype racing car. This may well prove to be the chance of a lifetime.

*Please note that this vehicle is sold on a Bill of Sale.