911 Carrera 1978

Cette collection est une adaptation de Porsche Racing collection  - Éditeur : Centauria Editore s.r.l. 

Owned by the private team Nicolas/Laverne, it overwhelmed its rivals and gave Porsche another victory in the Monte Carlo rally

From the mid-1970s onwards, the Porsche 911 was always present in rally events. However, the entry list for the 1978 Monte Carlo Rally was exceptional, especially as the Stuttgart cars - around thirty out of 200 registered - all belonged to private teams due to the fact that the German brand had no official participation in the first event of the season. The reason for this was the absolute dominance of the Fiat-Abarth/Lancia squad, which had won the last three editions of the 'Monte' with Sandro Munari driving a Lancia Stratos, and which in 1978 entered the new Fiat 131 Abarth Alitalia with Walter Röhrl, Maurizio Verini and Bernard Darniche alongside the Lancia Stratos HF Pirelli driven by Munari and Fulvio Bacchelli.

© IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. 

Only Renault, with the Alpine R5, and Opel with the Kadett GT/E, popular with private drivers and the only model to outnumber the 911 with more than 50 cars at the start, challenged the Italian cars. In the 'squadron' made up of Porsche 911 teams, one of the most experienced drivers was the Frenchman Jean-Pierre Nicolas, a driver with great expertise with rear-engined cars, having already scored several victories with the Renault 8 Gordini and the Alpine A110. Nicolas had just completed a mediocre 1977 season marked by a number of withdrawals. He and his navigator, Vincent Laverne, weren't sure they would be able to take part in the event only two weeks before the start, when the sponsor Gitanes confirmed that the budget would allow the team to hire a 911 Carrera RS 3.0 Group 4 prepared by the Alméras brothers, the ideal model for this type of event. The objective was to relive the glory days of 1970, the year in which Porsche won its last Monte Carlo event thanks to Björn Waldegaard's 911S and took the first international manufacturers' championship, subsequently renamed the World Rally Championship (WRC) in 1973. What's more, the 1978 'Monte' was the first event to be counted for the Drivers' FIA Cup, which had been introduced the previous year and was replaced in 1979 by a genuine Drivers' World Championship, whose calendar was unified with that of the manufacturers. Starting with a concentration stage, the crews set off from a town selected from a list of European capitals, driving some 2,000 km over two days before arriving in Gap on Sunday evening, where the rally itself began on Monday morning. In 1978 the number of departure cities was reduced from nine to seven, because of a lack of entries in Lisbon and London. In addition, heavy snowfall meant that some of the routes had to be changed. Nicolas and Laverne chose to start in Monte Carlo itself and to cover a "loop" that would take them to Angoulême and back.

Jean-Pierre Nicolas and Vincent Laverne's 911 facing the snow in the 1978 Monte Carlo Rally, an event marked by bad weather and heavy snowfalls. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. 

On the car that competed in the 1978 Monte, the extra fog lamps on the bumper were yellow, at the time standard in France. They would later be replaced by white ones. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. 

THE TREACHERY OF TYRES

The first cars to take the lead in the classification round and the following stages were the favourite Italian teams: Walter Röhrl-Christian Geistdörfer and Fulvio Bacchelli-Arnaldo Bernacchini, challenged by Guy Fréquelin-Jacques Delaval in their Renault 5 Alpine. The mix of snow and dry conditions put the new Pirelli tyres on the Fiat and Lancia cars to the ultimate test, as they were more effective on even surfaces. Over the five stages of the first part of the rally, Nicolas and Laverne's 911 moved up from twelfth to fifth place. On the second day, from the seventh special stage onwards, it took the lead in the general classification. It kept this lead until the end of the day and the following day.

During the final part of the rally, the duo won four of the eight stages and finished with an advantage of almost 2 minutes ahead of the amazing Renault 5 Alpine of Ragnotti-Andrié (first in Group 2) and Fréquelin-Delaval. This was Porsche's best result of the season and they finished fourth in the WRC classification behind Fiat, Ford and Opel. Jean-Pierre Nicolas took two further victories in the African events in Kenya and Côte d'Ivoire, with a Peugeot 504, and third place in Portugal with a Ford Escort RS 1800, eventually finishing second in the FIA Cup behind Markku Alén.

The Lancia Stratos entered by Chardonnet for French drivers Michèle Mouton and Françoise Conconi finished seventh overall. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. 

Here the car is seen in a historic event. Note the significantly reduced width of the snow tyres, especially at the rear, and the Fuchs rims at the front. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. 

Jean-Pierre Nicolas

For Jean-Pierre Nicolas from Marseilles, born in 1945, 1978 was a great year. With his victories in Monte Carlo, Kenya's Safari Rally and the Rallye du Bandama in Côte d'Ivoire, he established his WRC  season record by taking the total number of championship events he had won to five, following the 1973 Tour de Corse in an Alpine Renault A110 1800 and the 1976 Rallye du Maroc in a Peugeot 504, his companion in the African events. His list of achievements also included successes in minor events, some of which were counted for the European Rally Championship (ERC) and the French Rally Championship, which he won in 1971 with 3 victories and some other good results.

In 1984, Jean-Pierre Nicolas finished his career in the World Rally Championship before taking over the management of the Peugeot Talbot Sport team and joining the FIA. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. 

DATASHEET - PORSCHE 911 Carrera RS 3.0

  • ENGINE 6-cylinder rear boxer 
  • CYLINDER capacity 2993 cm3 
  • POWER 250 hp 
  • TORQUE inc. 
  • DISTRIBUTION 1 ACT per bank, 2 valves per cylinder 
  • FUEL SUPPLY Bosch-Kugelfisher multipoint mechanical injection 
  • LUBRICATION dry sump and oil cooler 
  • GEARBOX 5-speed manual ZF and MA 
  • PROPULSION rear-wheel drive 
  • MAXIMUM SPEED inc. 
  • CHASSIS monocoque 
  • BODYWORK steel 
  • FRONT SUSPENSIONS McPherson 
  • REAR SUSPENSIONS Longitudinal arms 
  • BRAKES discs front 282 mm, rear 290 mm 
  • WHEELS FRONT/REAR 8J×15 / 9J×15 
  • TYRES FRONT/REAR 215/60 VR 15 - 235/60 VR 15 
  • LENGTH 4235 mm 
  • WIDTH 1775 mm 
  • HEIGHT 1320 mm 
  • WHEELBASE 2271 mm 
  • FRONT WHEEL 1369 mm 
  • REAR WHEEL 1380 mm 
  • WEIGHT (EMPTY) 900 kg (base)
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