What could the 356 have evolved into had Porsche kept developing it? Rod Emory, a man whose life has revolved around Porsches and hot rodding in all its various forms, wanted to find out. His creation, the 356 RSR, is his idea of what a racy, widebodied, turbocharged and very focused 356 racing car would’ve been. Imagine an early 1970s 911 RSR, but in a 356 body. However, this one’s a street car with a unique style.
The car was initially drawn up as a pie-in-the-sky build for Emory with little intention of actually seeing the car built. In late 2014, however, Emory was approached by MOMO Chairman Henrique Cisneros, and ideas of a sharper-edged 356 were given life in sheet metal. Cisneros was inspired by the classic MOMO five-spoke wheels which once adorned the 935, 956, and 962 racers of the seventies and eighties. These wheels would drive the theme behind this unique creation.
This meant that it had to be a little raw and slightly rough around the edges. The widebody’s fit and finish isn’t exactly Concourse-quality, though it carries over that used-and-abused quality that racing cars have. There’s something purposeful about the way it sits on its MOMO Heritage 5 wheels wrapped in Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tires. That athletic stance has something to do with the KW coilovers, the Tarrett swaybars, and the 964 rolling chassis underneath. It needs to have some asphalt-peeling grip to harness the power it possesses.
The engine is a far cry from the original 60-horsepower mill. This 911/4 powerplant, a four-cylinder built by taking the center two cylinders out of a 964’s flat six, uses sand-cast engine case halves, custom cut Elgin cams, a custom crankshaft, and 100mm pistons for a healthy 2.4 liters of displacement. When force-fed by two Garrett ball-bearing turbochargers Emory has roughly 400 horsepower to push this 1,950-horsepower racer around. That’s… sufficient.
The interior is all business, but it still brings some age-old style into the mix.
The interior is fitted with plenty of attractive items from the MOMO catalog, including a Prototipo wheel, RSR-inspired seats trimmed in red fire-retardant fabric, and a Heritage Line Targa shift knob to row the G50/03’s gears. There’s just enough flash with this otherwise spartan machine to make it stylish. Purposeful, gruff, and intimidating, but still classically cool.
Check out the video from Petrolicious to see the whole thing in all its glory. It may look odd, but it sounds so great!