The new car with a name rich in tradition was Porsche's hit during the 1973 racing season. The Carrera RS, a 900 kg lightweight Porsche 911, initially delivered 300 bhp from 2.8 litre capacity in the racing version of the RSR, later 310 bhp from 3 litre. It won three international and seven national championships in its first season.

The Carrera RSR began its career at the 24 hours race in Daytona/Florida, and it started very convincingly. The RSR entrusted to the American private team Gregg/Haywood for this endurance test won unchallenged ahead of the prototypes, which were superior with regards to general performance, from Ferrari, Matra and Mirage-Ford.

The Porsche Carrera RSR soon dominated in its own category, the Grand Tourisme class. The races surrounding the GT European Championships turned into a Porsche festival in 1973. These "Elevens" wrote sporting history: Anything that was for the taking in 1973 and later still in the GT class was won by the RS and RSR. Whether on the racing circuit or on the rally track, it was always the "Elevens" with their characteristic tail, which were the ones to beat.