Carpooling with John Watson: “Let’s forget about these batteries and go back to 620-kilo single-seaters!”

Hello John. How wonderful this is Porsche 911 RS… Have you had it for a long time?

Fifty years! At the end of my first Grand Prix season with Hexagon Racing in 1974, I went to Highgate – a beautiful place in North London – where the garage was located. There I met the wife of the owner, Paul Michaels, who arrived at the wheel of a magnificent black Porsche 2.0 RS. I was driving the first car I had ever bought: a Ford Granada. I said to Paul: " This Porsche is my dream car. If you agree, you can take the Granada and whatever else you need to add to get it, you can take it from what you have to pay me! » It was a good deal for Paul who was a Porsche agent and for me who was realizing my dream! I thus became the happy owner of this RS 2.0 which was my everyday car from the end of 1974 to the middle of the following year when, thanks to a mutual friend, Tom Pryce (who died at the 1977 South African GP. Ed.) and I obtained a courtesy Opel. As I did not need to sell the Porsche, I kept it!

Do you often go for walks with it? 

It has just 150 miles (000 km) and it is in its original condition. Rare are the RS 241 in their original condition. For me who has always been a Porsche fanatic, it is the same intact pleasure every time I drive it. It is so different from modern cars. I recently bought a 400 GT2.0 RS which is just sensational, very fast, but very "track-oriented", which makes it difficult to use on a daily basis. In addition, it is so wide. Look how narrow this RS 911 is, one would say