ONE OF OUR OWN

One of Our Own

Type 7 Team member Thomas Walk on enjoying one of Porsche’s most misunderstood 911 models.

It’s been almost eight years since I stumbled upon my 1977 Talbot Yellow 2.7. It sat there under a makeshift carport, oil leaking out of its tailpipe, but it was the answer to my prayers for P-car ownership.

This happy little car wasn’t what I had in mind when I began my search several years earlier - the Porsche gods must have missed the “RS” part when I asked for a 2.7 - but it has taught me to appreciate one of Porsche’s more underrated 911 variants: the mid-years.

Now, I’m not an automotive historian, so the following isn’t a Wikipedia entry on the birth of the bumper 911, but rather an ode to the humble mid-year based on my experience with one.

The 1974 2.7 MFI Carrera is an interesting case study for the bumper cars. A 2.7 RS at heart, but without the tin-can characteristics of the homologated lightweight legend. And that rings true when it comes to comparing the G-model line-up with the earlier F-series. They have that little bit more creature comfort going for them. Better chassis, better braking. Heavier? Why yes, but that’s what the extra displacement is for.

And don’t get me started on the colours. The best colours of the Porsche rainbow can be found in the mid-year family tree, something I never truly appreciated until I owned this car. Black cars are cool and all, but have you ever seen a Mintgrün 2.7 Carrera? No sports car wears funky colours better than a 911, and no 911 wears them better than a mid-year. Pure ‘70s funk for the road.

They also stand as a testament to Porsche’s styling department, making the best out of those lemons handed out by the automotive regulatory bodies of the era and turning them into timeless lemonade. Simply look at how other manufacturers handled those changes. Few did it as well as Porsche.

When it comes to my car in particular, it is what you got if you placed an order in 1977 and ticked none of the boxes on your order form. The then-optional fifth gear isn’t there. A single mirror, vinyl interior - the original owner either wasn’t fussed about the options or simply couldn’t stomach the extra cost.

Nonetheless, almost 50 years later, it stands as a testament to the fact that there’s no such thing as a bad Porsche. It’s all too easy to look at a spec sheet and judge, but believe me when I say that every time I’ve found myself humming along at 5,000 rpm down an empty country road, none of those forgotten extras mattered or even entered my mind.

The 1974 2.7 MFI Carrera is an interesting case study for the bumper cars. A 2.7 RS at heart, but without the tin-can characteristics of the homologated lightweight legend.

It’s a car I brought back to life with my dad, proposed to my wife in, drove away from our wedding in, and took my daughter to her first day of school in. All of that over the eight years I’ve been lucky enough to own it.

Before pulling the trigger, I consulted those wiser than I about the potential pitfalls of my future mid-year. The responses were almost entirely unanimous: I was about to purchase a hand grenade. The 2.7 carries a bad reputation, mostly stemming from the US, where cars built between ’75 and ’77 were fitted with emissions equipment that turned their magnesium cases into thermoreactors. Yikes!

Luckily for my Aussie-delivered car, those nasty bits of kit were excluded. The urban myth proved false, and to this day, the little motor that could still does. To discount the mid-year cars because of their magnesium cases is to discount every 911 that came before them. These little motors are more robust than most people assume and can take a punishing when asked.

Over time, cars such as this transcend their spec sheets and become not only part of your life, but part of the lives around you. It’s a car I brought back to life with my dad, proposed to my wife in, drove away from our wedding in, and took my daughter to her first day of school in. All of that over the eight years I’ve been lucky enough to own it. Can you imagine missing out on all of this because you listened to a naysayer on a forum?

A car is what you make of it. Care for it and enjoy them for what they are, not for what they aren’t. And if you’re looking for a place to start, I couldn’t recommend a happy little 2.7 mid-year more.