Notorious drug kingpin Pablo Escobar’s Porsche 911 RSR is for sale

A 1974 Porsche 911 3.0 RSR IROC race car once raced by the “King of Cocaine” has hit the open market and is expected to fetch in the order of millions.

The car, which was also listed earlier this year for US$2.2 million (AU$3 million), was initially owned by Roger Penske and raced by F1 champion Emerson Fittipaldi in the inaugural International Race of Champions season. IROC was a discipline that involved racers from different categories competing in identical cars.

According to auctioneers Collecting Cars, since its IROC days the car then changed hands through privateer racer John Tunstall who raced it in various IMSA events including the Daytona 24 Hours and 12 Hours of Sebring.

It was Tunstall who eventually sold it to Pablo Escobar, who fitted it with Porsche 935-style flat nose body work with a Martini livery and raced it in his Colombian homeland.

This 911 RSR IROC is one of just 15 built during 1974 and is distinguished by a large rear spoiler, black-out headlights, and Fuchs alloy wheels. The exterior is finished in Sahara Beige paint and features graphics displaying its original driver’s name.

It is powered by the period correct 911/75 3.0-litre “high-butterfly” flat-six-cylinder racing engine, which drives the rear wheels through a five-speed manual transmission.

The car changed hands again in the early 1990s where it was sent to the United States to undergo a transformation back to its original body work. In 2011 it emerged at Rennsport Reunion IV at Laguna Seca Raceway where it won a multitude of awards thanks to restorative works.

While not the most competitively successful 911 RSR IROC, this car’s interesting ownership pedigree could see a high final price. An IROC 911 once sold for $2.3 million at a 2016 auction from comedian Jerry Seinfeld’s collection.