A personal homage to Richie Ginther's 911 ST
Over the course of 30+ years, what began life as a humble 1969 912 has been transformed into the ultimate expression of featherweight performance in a 911 application.
As a race mechanic apprentice to Richie Ginther in the early 70s, Kurt Zimmerman was inspired by Ginther’s racing and car preparation philosophies—fastidious build quality with an emphasis on reliability for endurance racing. And it was after taking delivery of, and subsequently becoming enthralled with Ginther’s 1971 911 S/T, dubbed Sloop, that Zimmerman decided that he’d eventually build his own version of that car in the future.
When that time came in 1979, guided by Ginther’s principles, Zimmerman started with the lightest tub available, a Karmann long-body from a 912 that would end up being the recipient for greatest and rarest parts produced by Porsche Motorsport in period.
Big power, light weight
Standouts include 906 cams, an RSR twin-plug distributor, a 917 exhaust bracket, 962 titanium case studs, 906 forged rockers, slide injection, and an RSR Bosch MFI pump. And that’s just engine bits; inside, there’s a 935 roll cage, 911 R door handles, an SC RS (Typ 954) short shift, and custom titanium bits all over, including the parking brake.
Story and photography by Christian Gilbertsen. Special thank you to Sloop 2's new caretakder for allowing us to view this car and to Bleeker Digital for film processing and scanning.