Jochen and Nina Rindt's Porsche 911 S

"A red and white polka dot handkerchief, pink trousers, and a Jaguar E; a snob." This is how Piers Courage describes his first encounter with Jochen Rindt, at a Formula Junior race in Budapest on a rainy autumn Sunday in 1963. Later, he would become one of the best friends of that long-faced, cold pilot, with a characteristic mix of arrogance, determination, and sadness.

Rindt's father, a German, owned a significant spice-related company. His mother was an Austrian lawyer. In 1943, both died in the Hamburg bombings. Jochen, only fifteen months old, thus became the owner of a substantial fortune, which he could not access until reaching adulthood. The company was placed under an administrator, and his maternal grandparents in Austria took care of the young orphan.

The young man grew up in a comfortable home and later experienced a rather turbulent adolescence. More than studies, he enjoyed competing with friends, including a boarding school mate named Helmut Marko (who would win Le Mans in 1971 and is now an advisor to the Red Bull F1 team), in impromptu races on scooters or even with cars "borrowed" from the family garage. His grandfather, a renowned lawyer, had to use all his influence to get him out of the police station on more than one occasion. At 18, he already had a driver's license and was gifted a Simca Monthlery. He began participating in competitions, now legal, first in hill climbs and then on circuits, where the Alfa Romeo Giuletta Ti reigned, convincing his grandmother, who had just become a widow, to buy him one.

At 21, he could take control of his family business and manage a significant fortune. He bought a Formula Junior and won in his second race. A year later, he raced in Formula 2 with a Brabham and won the London Trophy at Crystal Palace, ahead of Graham Hill. Rob Walker, a member of the family owning Johnny Walker whiskeys and owner of a private Formula 1 team, had long noticed that the young and arrogant Austrian not only had money but also talent. In August 1964, he offered him the wheel of a Brabham to race in the Austrian Grand Prix. Rindt astonished: he was third when he had to retire.

In early 1965, Jochen insisted Walker sign him for the entire season, but Walker hesitated. Rindt didn't know, but Walker—a true gentleman—was doing him a favor, as he was aware that BP was about to reach an agreement with Cooper for the Austrian to be their official driver. He didn't want, very honestly, to close doors for him.

Rindt would sign for three years with Cooper. That 1965 season seemed to go well: he achieved two second places in F1, surprisingly won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a Ferrari 250 LM from the NART team, alongside American Gregory, and decided to have his friend Bernie Ecclestone, a former driver with little talent for the wheel but seemingly sharp for business, act as his manager.

It is worth noting that 1965 also marked the beginning of his professional relationship with Porsche. Over the next five years, Rindt would remain a cornerstone of Stuttgart's endurance racing program; the Austrian driver piloted the official 906, 907, and 910, as well as a private 908/02. In June 1967, in recognition of his status as a factory driver, Rindt received a 911 S, with chassis number 308139S. Originally delivered through Porsche Konstruktionen KG Salzburg, Austrian importers of Porsche, with local registration S8.491 and, significantly, in the "Wagen-Karte," the car's documentation, his illustrious owner is listed as "kunden" (customer).

At that time, like many of his peers, Rindt combined his commitment to Formula 1 and the World Endurance Championship Sport Prototypes with competition in other formulas.

But in 1966, the Cooper team, now heavy single-seaters with outdated Maserati engines, began an unstoppable decline. The exception would be Spa, where Rindt dominated the race under torrential rain until, in the final laps, mechanical problems allowed Surtees and his Ferrari to overtake him.

In 1967, he married the beautiful Finnish model Nina Lincoln, daughter of a former driver. But in Formula 1, everything was mechanical failures and a desire to leave a team where the atmosphere was unbearable. At the United States Grand Prix, when he returned to the pits on foot after breaking down, he explained to his mechanic (a certain Ron Dennis...) that "the engine was overheating, the oil pressure was dropping, and to be sure, I revved it up to 12,000 rpm..." Roy Salvadory, Cooper's director, overheard the conversation and didn't let him drive for the rest of the season.

In contrast, his tight schedule also included the British, French, and European Formula 2 Championships with the Winkelmann Racing Brabham team. The Austrian dominated all three championships that year; 11 victories in 19 participations consolidated his unofficial title of "King of Formula 2." And he attended all those circuits at the wheel of the striking Bahama yellow 911.

But in F1, the outlook was different, and his driving inspired some distrust... except for Jack Brabham, who didn't forget the 1966 Spa race and hired him for 1968. But the Australian Repco engines of the Brabham BT 24 and BT 26 broke down one after another and couldn't compete with the new Ford Cosworth DFV, used by the Lotus 49, McLaren M7A, and Matra. And Rindt continued to attend European circuits at the wheel of his Porsche 911 for most of the year.

For the 1969 season, Colin Chapman, the head of Lotus, offered him a seat. Rindt hesitated at first because, on one hand, he got along wonderfully with Brabham, and on the other, he didn't like the Lotus, which had a reputation for being fragile and dangerous. In the end, he signed; "if Brabham had offered me half the money Chapman did, I would have stayed with him," he commented.

His move to Lotus also had effects on his personal car. Ford didn't want a Lotus Ford driver to attend circuits at the wheel of a Porsche, and he was required to use a Ford Mustang as a "company car."

In 1969, he set almost all the best times in practice, won the United States Grand Prix, was second in Italy, and third in Canada. But he wasn't happy in the team. Comments like "Stewart will be world champion because his car doesn't disintegrate like ours" didn't contribute to smooth relations with Chapman. However, the Austrian had reasons to speak like that from the bed of the Soler Roig clinic in Barcelona after suffering a serious accident in the Spanish Grand Prix, in Montjuich, on May 4, when the wing of his Lotus 49 folded in half at the Stadium Rise and crashed into his teammate Hill's car, which had experienced the same two laps earlier.

Replaced by the Mustang, the Porsche 911 chassis 308139S had returned to Porsche Salzburg at the end of 1968. But it would no longer serve any driver to attend circuits, but to race. Thus, it was prepared for rallies and re-registered as S16.193.

The car was entrusted to Kenyan driver Joginder Singh, who would later become a legend of African rallies with his three victories in the Safari Rally. His first known participation was the 40th Internationale Österreichische Alpenfahrt, in May 1969. Easily identifiable by his turban, "The Flying Sikh" and his co-driver Peter Jakl faced drivers of the caliber of Hannu Mikkola, Simo Lampinen, and Paddy Hopkirk. But after finishing three stages in the top ten, they were forced to retire.

Just two weeks later, Singh achieved an excellent third place in the overall classification of the Semperit International Rally, in Vienna. The car's next participation was in the 1970 Lyon-Charbonnières-Stuttgart-Solitude Rally, where it was shared by Walter Pöltinger and his co-driver Manfred Stepany. They finished second in their category and twenty-fifth overall.

Just a month later, in April 1970, the 308139S passed into the hands of the Austrian Funder OHG Rally team; consequently, the car was re-registered as K60.133. In May, it participated in the Internationale Österreichische Alpenfahrt, where Porsche specialist—and future WRC driver—Klaus Russling and his co-driver Gerd Eggenberger finished in an excellent tenth place overall and second in their category. It is worth noting that four of the nine cars that preceded it at the finish were factory cars from Saab, Ford, Alpine-Renault, and Lancia, while future WRC champion Björn Waldegård took victory with a similar Porsche 911S. The Internationale Donau Elan-Elf Rallye, at the end of July 1970, represented its last triumph. On this occasion, Russling was co-driven by Franz Mikes, although two stage results in the top ten proved to be scant consolation as they were forced to retire. That same month, the former user of the 911 had managed to win the French and British Grands Prix. But let's take it step by step.

At the end of the 1969 season, Rindt considered leaving Lotus, and even retiring. But Chapman kept him in the team with the promise of providing him with a revolutionary car, the 72, for the 1970 season. And indeed, the adjective was not exaggerated; its wedge shape and side-mounted radiators marked a before and after in F1. But it was very delicate; in the Spanish Grand Prix, at Jarama, Rindt went off the track when one of the front half-shafts broke. On May 10, in Monaco, he won with the old 49 after an epic battle with Brabham. He returned with the 72 at Spa, on May 7, but now it was the suspension that broke. Rindt was very concerned about the danger of these failures and told Ecclestone to call Chapman and ask him to reinforce some parts. Chapman's response was blunt; "As long as you don't have an engineering diploma, you have no advice to give me."

After several improvements, the Lotus Ford 72 returned on June 21, at the Dutch Grand Prix, in Zandvoort, and Rindt won. It was a sad victory because when he got out of the car, he learned that his close friend Piers Courage had died. Bruce McLaren had disappeared a few days earlier, and Nina couldn't take it anymore; she wanted Jochen to promise her that he would leave racing at the end of the season. That summer, Rindt was unstoppable and won three Grands Prix: on July 5 in France, on July 18 in Great Britain, and on August 2 in Germany. He had only missed the Austrian one, but he led the championship when he arrived at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. There, the teams' trucks headed to unload the cars that would participate in the race, scheduled for Sunday, September 6. But first, there were the practice sessions, the fight for a good starting position.

Peter Warr, Lotus manager, assured that on Friday night, during dinner, Rindt was convinced to dispense with the wings, something they had tried that afternoon, to improve top speed. However, driver John Miles, Rindt's teammate, pointed out that Chapman told him he would remove the wings from his car as he had done with Rindt's. Miles recounts how from Friday night to Saturday he couldn't sleep because he considered the 72, which he had already tested with that configuration during a lap late in the afternoon, "was the most terrible car he had ever driven in his life." However, Chapman told him he would remove it on Saturday "because it was the only way to go faster."

On Saturday, Miles arrived at the circuit and found his car without the wing. He waited for the tanks to be filled, but he would never go out on the track. Suddenly, the cars stopped their engines, and a dramatic silence fell. Stewart, a great friend of Rindt, spoke softly to Nina, who held the stopwatch in her hands, sitting on the edge of the pit while her beautiful eyes stared into the distance...

Dennis Hulme recounted that he had seen the Austrian's Lotus 72 brake at the Parabolica, zigzag, and suddenly launch to the left against the guardrail. A brake system failure, an aerodynamic imbalance?

At the end of the season, Nina Rindt collected the World Champion trophy that Jochen had won, the only posthumous champion.

After concluding its competitive career, the Porsche 911 chassis 308139S passed through a succession of private Austrian owners and fell into a state of disrepair, having been modified to present it as a later 911 G Series, something common in early 911s of the era. It is worth noting that the car's initial history remained intact and eventually passed into the hands of renowned Porsche historian and author, Dr. Georg Konradsheim. In 2011, the car was acquired by its current custodian—a Viennese, of course—under whose care it has remained since. During this time, the car was entrusted to an Austrian brand specialist for an exhaustive two-and-a-half-year restoration, adhering to the original factory specifications, at a cost exceeding €200,000, restoring its original Bahama yellow colors with black vinyl seats.

Special emphasis was placed on preserving as many original components of the car as possible, using new factory parts only when absolutely necessary.

Used infrequently since then, the 308139S offers an irresistible combination of the superior technical specifications of the 911 S, impeccable provenance, and a poignant connection to the only posthumous Formula 1 world champion, as well as a rich and varied rally history. A unique piece loaded with history.