Alan Hamilton's 911 - Where is it now?

scootermcrad · 02-16-2022, 04:23 AM

Hey everyone,

I tripped over this article on Primotipo blog regarding Alan Hamilton's mid-engined 911

https://primotipo.com/tag/porsche-911-turbo/

I couldn't seem to find much else on this car or where it is, now. Does anyone have any information about this car?

stownsen914 · 02-16-2022, 04:36 AM

Now that's cool!

scootermcrad · 02-16-2022, 05:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stownsen914

Now that's cool!

Right??!! Seriously

Arlo911 · 02-16-2022, 07:52 AM

Wow that is an awesome car! Thanks for sharing.

scootermcrad · 04:29 AM

Bumping this back up for any information anyone might be able to share.

I actually reached out to Jim McKeown's race team site to see if I could get more info, but no luck so far. If anyone has any direct contact info they could share with me for Jim or Alan, (assuming they're still with us) to get more information about the car, please message me. Thank you!

jjeffries · jjeffries's Garage

Right Hand Drive … Australia?

John

Coastr · 04:59 PM

Yes Alan Hamilton was very well known for Porsche racing in Australia. He introduced the brand to Australia through racing.

Take a read of https://www.tradeuniquecars.com.au/features/2005/alan-hamilton-mr-porsche-interview

Also https://newsroom.porsche.com/en_AU/2021/history/70-years-porsche-people-Alan-Hamilton-24649.html

Coastr · 02-22-2022, 05:33 PM

There’s a good thread of historical pics of Porsche racing cars in Australia at https://porscheforum.com.au/topic/15706-race-cars-with-history-in-australia/. Some do the people who knew/owned/worked on the cars have commented in there. Nothing about the mid engined car but if you want to follow up on it there may be some leads.

scootermcrad · 02-23-2022, 05:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coastr

Yes Alan Hamilton was very well known for Porsche racing in Australia. He introduced the brand to Australia through racing.

Take a read of https://www.tradeuniquecars.com.au/features/2005/alan-hamilton-mr-porsche-interview

Also https://newsroom.porsche.com/en_AU/2021/history/70-years-porsche-people-Alan-Hamilton-24649.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coastr

There’s a good thread of historical pics of Porsche racing cars in Australia at https://porscheforum.com.au/topic/15706-race-cars-with-history-in-australia/. Some do the people who knew/owned/worked on the cars have commented in there. Nothing about the mid engined car but if you want to follow up on it there may be some leads.

Great! I will dig through those links. Thank you! I appreciate it!

And yeah, it is very difficult to find any information on the car. Especially pictures. I may end up having to actually try and find a copy of the Feb 1975 Chequered Flag magazine to see any additional details. Surprised there is not more documentation on such a unique car. Makes me wonder if it was wrecked or cut up. Seems like it should have surfaced again since then.

OSC911 · 04-26-2022, 06:16 PM

Hi
I mentioned this car to my neighbour who also is a life member of the Queensland chapter of the Porsche Club here is Australia. He dug up an article he wrote a few years ago of which I thought might be helpful with further information about the Hamilton mid engined 911 that was built and raced here in Australia. I have only taken photos so hopefully they are OK. If not, I can scan them and post/send them through.

OSC911 · 04-26-2022, 06:18 PM

And some more photos

75 911s · 75 911s's Garage

The later 3.0 RSR centerlock wheels look so mean on this beast. What a car!

Jonny042 · Jonny042's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by 75 911s

The later 3.0 RSR centerlock wheels look so mean on this beast. What a car!

The article states that they parted out a 908 to build the car..... imagine that!!!
So they might be 908 wheels in fact. I wonder what happened to the flat 8's....

stownsen914 · 04-28-2022, 07:22 AM

Yeah kinda funny - when this car was built, 908 parts were probably cheap since by then the 908 was just an out of date racecar. Times have change a bit!

Would be fun to find the Hamilton 911 sitting in a barn somewhere and restore it!

scootermcrad · 07-11-2022, 05:11 AM

I have no idea how I missed the updated comments in the thread! Thank you for posting, everyone!

And yeah... imagine just having some "crappy old 908 junk" sitting around to build with. HAHA!

Just from following the trail of comments here and other places on the interweb, it seems the car was most likely disassembled and put out to pasture. Who knows, though. Would be really cool if the chassis was still floating around somewhere.

Dpmulvan · 07-11-2022, 05:20 AM

Alan also raced a Porsche 911S sports sedan during this period but the 906 racing days were over. The car was rebuilt as Coupe in the 1980’s by the Porsche workshop in Melbourne. It appeared occasionally, notably at a couple of Adelaide Grand Prix historic demonstrations, the car finally sold by Hamilton in the 1990 via auction to a Japanese owner.

scootermcrad · 07-11-2022, 05:45 AM

Something that doesn't really seem to be talked about is how the cooling path was arranged for this car and how Alan actually sat in the car. We know from later history of people trying to build mid-engined 911's that it was a very tight fit and flat fan assemblies were used. I wish there was more pictures of the relationship of the stock location cooling fan relative to the seat position and the ducting. In one picture, it almost looks like there was some ducting behind the driver's seat in the B-post location. Hard to tell.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dpmulvan

Alan also raced a Porsche 911S sports sedan during this period but the 906 racing days were over. The car was rebuilt as Coupe in the 1980’s by the Porsche workshop in Melbourne. It appeared occasionally, notably at a couple of Adelaide Grand Prix historic demonstrations, the car finally sold by Hamilton in the 1990 via auction to a Japanese owner.

I ran across that bit of info once, also. Super cool car!

scootermcrad · 05:23 AM

So everything I read definitely suggests that this car was dismantled, at some point. So I guess the remaining mystery is, did the chassis actually get fully scrapped? Either way, it would be amazing to just see some more pictures of this car during it's life. I haven't seen any pictures that show the seat position and how the engine was ducted. And we're assuming, based on other later configurations people have done, that the wheelbase would have been lengthened a touch between the back of the door and the rear axle center line.

When I was trying some other search variations I stumbled over this thread on S-registry. Some of this about the 67S car. What I found interesting is the car's history listed out in post #7 and the picture of the yellow Camel Filters 3 car. If it weren't a left hand drive car, I would say it almost looks like the same car as the car of topic, here. The front valance details, front horn grille openings (brake ducts?), the huge rear quarters and wide stance, etc. It's not, but I think you see what I mean...

https://www.early911sregistry.org/forums/showthread.php?62234-67S-2-5litre-Rennen

When I look at these pictures on my phone they are clear as a bell. They look sort of pixelated with that direct link. Not sure if I'm linking it weird, or something. This picture is one that I'm referring to.

stownsen914 · 07-22-2022, 06:30 PM

Looks like car with the car with the mid-engine / 908 running gear mods was run in the mid 70s. The car in the last pic, per the early s registry details, was owned by Hamilton around 1977. Probably a different car, though clearly the same livery.

scraigb · 04:54 AM

Hopefully this shows up. I saw this picture earlier this year, I was scratching my head at the turbo setup. I had no Idea at the time it was mid engine.