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Two Cars, One Number: Porsche 911 S/T and the Human Side of Perfection

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Porsche doesn’t miss details. It obsesses over them. So when a company that can tell you the weight difference between two paint finishes accidentally duplicates a limited-edition number on one of the most collectible 911s ever made, it’s less a scandal than a reminder: even perfection is assembled by humans.

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the 911, Porsche built the 911 S/T—arguably the purest modern 911 this side of a motorsports paddock. Production was capped at 1,963 units, a nod to the year the original 911 debuted. Each car carries its individual build number on a badge mounted on the passenger-side dash. Or at least, it’s supposed to.

Somewhere between Zuffenhausen and the far corners of the globe, number 1724 was born twice.

One 911 S/T with that number went to Pedro Solís Klussmann, president of Porsche Club Guatemala. The other landed with Suzan Taher, who pilots her S/T on the opposite side of the planet. Same car. Same badge. Same number. Not exactly the sort of rarity Porsche intended.

The mistake stemmed from the most old-school part of the Sonderwunsch process: manual ordering. According to Karl-Heinz Volz, Director of Porsche Sonderwunsch, that human involvement is both the program’s greatest strength—and its occasional vulnerability. “Mistakes can happen,” Volz said, “The important thing is how you deal with them.” Credit Porsche for not hiding behind bureaucracy.

The irony? Klussmann had chosen 1724 with care. The 17th ties together birthdays shared by his mother, grandmother, and himself; the 24 marks his father’s birthday. Taher’s car, meanwhile, was meant to wear 1742, a number with no emotional backstory at all. Fate, it seems, had a sense of humor.

Porsche’s solution was peak Stuttgart. The company flew both owners to Zuffenhausen for a private, ceremonial mea culpa. There, they received corrected plaques, a framed photograph of their two cars together, and presentation boxes containing samples of their respective interior and exterior materials. The incorrect badge—the physical proof of the mix-up—was formally handed over to the Porsche archive, catalogued as part of company history while the owners looked on. Somewhere, a future brand historian is already smiling.

Beyond their brief numerical overlap, the two 911 S/Ts couldn’t be more different—and that’s the point.

Klussmann’s car wears the Heritage Design package, finished in Shore Blue Metallic, a color that feels lifted from Porsche’s greatest hits album. Inside, Classic Cognac fabric seat centers with black pinstripes deliver a tasteful wink to Porsche’s past, while a carbon-fiber roll cage reminds you this is no museum piece—it’s meant to be driven.

Taher’s S/T goes in the opposite direction, drenched in Paint to Sample Plus Rose Red. If the color feels familiar, it should. Known as “Fraise” in the 1970s, it adorned legends like the Carrera RS 2.7 and the IROC-spec 911 Carrera RSR 3.0. The shade was so compelling in this modern execution that Porsche will officially add it to the Paint to Sample catalog for the 2026 model year. Inside, Guards Red leather covers much of the cabin, turning the S/T into something that’s equal parts time capsule and contemporary statement.

And underneath all that personalization is the real reason the 911 S/T exists.

Developed in Weissach with a singular mission, the S/T is a love letter to lightness and involvement. Power comes from a naturally aspirated 4.0-liter flat-six producing 525 horsepower, paired exclusively with a close-ratio manual transmission. No turbos. No PDK. No distractions. Weight savings are obsessive, the chassis tuned for agility rather than lap-time bragging rights.

The name itself reaches back to Porsche history. In 1969, the 911 S spawned a competition-focused variant internally known as the 911 ST. The modern S/T carries that same philosophy forward: less mass, more feel, and a direct connection between driver and machine that’s increasingly rare in today’s performance-car landscape.

In the end, the duplicated number didn’t cheapen the 911 S/T. If anything, it added another layer to its story. These cars aren’t just collections of carbon fiber and carefully calibrated steering feel—they’re artifacts of a company that still does things by hand, still invites customers into its history, and still believes that owning a Porsche should feel personal.

Even when the numbers don’t quite add up the first time.

Source: Porsche

News

Time Travel in Light Yellow: Porsche 911 S/T, Then and Now

Some stories in the automotive world refuse to die. They sit dormant, buried in barns or archives, waiting for the right hands to bring them back to life. The Porsche 911 S/T is one of those stories—two generations, five decades apart, now reunited under one roof in the same shade of Light Yellow, paint code 117.

The Lost Racer

The year was 1972, and a Porsche 911 2.5 S/T stormed to a GT class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, wearing starting number 41. It was lean, loud, and purpose-built for endurance racing. But glory is fleeting. By the mid-1970s, the same car—once a champion—was last seen at a race in Riverdale, California, piloted by Don Lindley. After changing hands a few times, the trail went cold.

What resurfaced decades later in a barn near San Francisco was devastating: a twisted shell of rust and bad repaint jobs, a far cry from its Le Mans-winning prime. How the car went from victory lane to near oblivion remains a mystery.

The resurrection began in 2013, when a Swiss collector tracked down the carcass and shipped it to Stuttgart. The Porsche Classic experts in Zuffenhausen disassembled the remains piece by piece. They rebuilt the body using original gauges and drawings, fabricating missing parts from scratch. More than 1,000 hours of craftsmanship went into realigning and restoring the body alone. After two and a half painstaking years, the car emerged in 2016 exactly as it had in 1972: Light Yellow paint, race decals, and the number 41. This was no tribute car. It was the real thing, reborn.

The Modern Echo

Fast-forward to 2024, and the S/T badge has returned, but this time on a road-going special edition celebrating Porsche’s 60 years of the 911. Lightweight, manual-only, and powered by a 4.0-liter naturally aspirated flat-six screaming to 9,000 rpm, the new S/T is a purist’s dream.

The Swiss collector who owns the original wanted more than just a showroom piece—he wanted continuity. Enter Porsche Sonderwunsch, the in-house program for bespoke builds. The mission: recreate the 1972 Le Mans winner’s spirit in a modern package.

That meant one thing above all else: paint it Light Yellow, code 117. This wasn’t easy. The pale shade hasn’t been part of Porsche’s palette for decades, and applying it evenly over the new car’s carbon components required a level of craftsmanship more akin to restoration than production. Yet, like its ancestor, the car emerged flawless.

Finished with forged magnesium wheels in Darksilver, black brake calipers, and a stripped-back black interior, the 2024 911 S/T is the perfect bookend to the restored racer sitting beside it in the garage.

Past Meets Future

Together, the pair tells a story few marques could script. On one side, a legend reclaimed from rust and neglect, saved by Porsche Classic’s obsessive attention to detail. On the other, a modern interpretation that proves Porsche hasn’t forgotten its roots, even as it builds cars with 9,000-rpm engines and carbon fiber panels.

Both cars are survivors in their own way. One cheated death to live again. The other refuses to let driving purity die in an era dominated by electrification. And both stand united in Light Yellow—code 117—a shade that now represents not just color, but continuity.

Source: Porsche

Auctions

2024 Porsche 911 S/T for sale

The Porsche 911 S/T is the lightest 911 of its generation, and only 1,963 units were produced. One of them is for sale, with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross to help with the California wildfire relief efforts.

This car is owned by Porsche Cars North America, part of the PCNA in-house fleet, and is the only one in the U.S. that still has no buyer. It is the 1,919th example produced with only 956 miles (1,500 km) on the odometer at the time of cataloguing.

The Porsche 911 S/T is equipped with the optional Heritage Design Package and personal start number 60, commemorating 60 years of the Porsche 911. It is painted in stunning Shore Blue Metallic, an exclusive color for this package, and it is decorated with wheels in the color Ceramica, classic style Porsche crest on the front, on the central caps of the wheels, the steering wheel, the headrests, and the car key, underscoring the historic roots of the 911 S/T. There are also a number of options that further enhance its enthusiast appeal and touring capability, such as the front axle lift system, which provides greater ground clearance at the touch of a button to navigate speed bumps or driveways, and an extended range 23.7-gallon fuel tank, auto-dimming mirrors with integrated rain sensor, rear Park Assist, and the BOSE Surround Sound audio system.

Inside, the bucket seats are covered in Classic Cognac leather with black pinstripes, while two-tone semi-aniline leather trim in Black/Classic Cognac covers the rest of the interior. The roof lining is in perforated Dinamica, and other elements from Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur round out the package.

The auction will be held on February 18-20, and the car comes with an owner’s manual pouch signed by Andreas Preuninger, Director of the GT model line at Porsche.

Source: RM Sotheby’s

Gallery:

2024 Porsche 911 S/T for sale