• Big-engined Seventies 911
• Three-speed Sportomatic gearbox
• Super-rare colour
• Unrestored, never welded

Porsche is a company that’s renowned for doing things differently, so when it came to creating an automatic version of the classic Porsche 911 in order to cater for increased demand for two-pedal transmissions, the company took a rather unusual approach. 

The result was the “Sportomatic”, which sounds like something straight out of the Boys’ Own Book of Inventions. Rather than an automatic gearbox, it was essentially Porsche’s four-speed manual but with the clutch pedal removed and operated independently when the driver moved the gear lever. 

Closer to a sequential gearbox than a full automatic, Porsche’s Sportomatic was essentially a manual transmissions with a torque converter and a single-disc vacuum-operated dry clutch. With no clutch pedal to operate, the driver used a lever to go through the gears – later reduced (if you can believe it) to three speeds as it worked better with the increased torque of the 2.7-littre engine introduced to the model in 1975. 

It had a “park” position but no fully automatic mode, making the Sportomatic something of a quirk – even more so today than it ever was when new. 

This example is one of the first three-speeders and one of only a handful of Sportomatics in right-hand-drive, made even rarer by its incredibly unusual Coppaflorio Blue colour scheme. 

The 911 has had just six owners in a 46 year life, so it's fair to say that it has been cherished and well looked after throughout that time.

The current owner bought it in 2017 after the car had been for a short lay-up and he returned it to the road, treating it to an upper body respray and a shot blasted and powder coated bumper along with new tyres all round. 

He has a substantial car collection and among it the Sportomatic is one of the cars he's used and enjoyed the most, despite it being surrounded by many more exotic or unusual cars.

The seller is now in the process of downsizing a large car collection and he's decided to let the 911 go, albeit reluctantly.

This car comes with its original handbook and service book, the latter of which is stamped from new until 1979. Of course, that doesn't mean it hasn't had a service in 42 years: it's more a fascinating snapshot of history that those service stamps exist at all.

In more recent times, there are bills and receipts relating to work carried out and parts bought in the course of regular servicing, though much of the recent cosmetic work was carried out by the vendor or by friends and associates of his, so there are no documents to back this up. The car has a full UK V5C.

The first thing you notice about this car is its truly unusual colour. it's called Coppaflorio Blue and is so pale that in bright sunlight it almost looks white. It's a terrific colour that was offered on Porsche 911s for just four years between 1974 and 1977. 

The body condition of this car is truly remarkable. It has had an upper body respray in the original colour, but the underside has never been touched and is exactly as it left the factory. Even the inside of the wheel-arches wears the original paint.

No matter how hard we looked, we couldn't find any rust or corrosion anywhere, backing up the suggestion but this Porsche has been garage for all of its life. It has over 76,000 miles on the clock, but over a 46 year period this represents light use and it has clearly been stored properly and always kept clean and tidy.

The car was painted around four years ago and rather than trying to colour match the bumper to the rest of the body where some of the paint was showing its age anyway, he opted to have the car fully repainted on the outside as well as having the bumper shot blasted and powder coated. 

He also had the alloy wheels refurbished and new tyres fitted at the same time, the result of which is a car that looks truly fantastic.

Porsche interiors are often discreet and fairly dark places in which to sit, but not this one. Indeed, if ever a car interior defined the 1970s it was this one.

The seats are edged in black vinyl but the main seat fabric is in a rather vibrant red and purple tartan that really jumps out. And to our minds, it looks great. It's colourful, but also stylish in a charming and retro kind of way.

It's also in fabulous order with very minimal signs of wear, while all of the switches, gauges and controls work as they should. The headlining was also recently restored and refitted and is in superb condition.

Power comes from Porsche’s air-cooled 2,687cc unit – or the classic 2.7 – and It's in good running order, firing up instantly and running smoothly. We were able to conduct a short test drive and can confirm that it holds a steady temperature and doesn't choke up even with lots of low speed manoeuvring.

The brakes, suspension and steering all feel good, but by far the most fascinating aspect of this car is its transmission. It's fair to say that the three-speed manual-auto setup isn't the most intuitive to use. With a seemingly normal shift pattern for the gear lever, you have to exercise a lot of self-discipline to not instinctively push the clutch pedal in between changes.

You simply slot it into gear and then wait to feel the car ‘bite’ before lifting your foot off the brake – and away you go. To go from one gear to the next, you simply move the lever across and when you let go of the gear knob the automated system takes over and the car engages the next gear. It's weird but also wonderful – a fascinating piece of 1970s technology and of Porsche’s own history to boot.

This is a wonderfully quirky example of an extremely rare 911. It's in absolutely beautiful condition and has clearly been well loved. It's also a wonderful colour and that interior truly is something to behold.

It's not the most obvious choice of Seventies 911, but on the flipside it's also one of the most curious and charming examples that we've seen and would make a real talking point and interesting addition to any Porsche collection.