Race cars become famous for different reasons; there’s the Lotus 25 that introduced monocoque chassis construction, Jackie Stewart drove Tyrrell 003 to eight grand prix victories, and the McLaren Mp4/4 series won fifteen of sixteen races in 1988. But no car has more first than the Lotus 49 and specifically chassis number R2.
In 1972 Dr. Ferry Porsche decided that all members of the extended Porsche family would no longer take an active role in the management of the Porsche company. Dr. Porsche assumed the position of Honorary Chairman of the Supervisory Board, his son, Ferry “Buzzi” Porsche, resigned as head of the design department and his nephew, Ferdinand Piëch, left as head of research and development. Dr. Ernst Fuhrman returned as the president and Helmut Bott took over the research and development department.
Ferry Porsche and Fuhrman were concerned with the expensive prototype and Can-Am racing programs and wanted to cut the cost and complexity of the racing programs. Fuhrman’s wanted a project to highlight the abilities of the 911 as a marketing tool. According to Fuhrman, “Racing is good advertising for every car” so Porsche would concentrate on developing the 911 for racing.