Watch Porsche Celebrate 50 Years Of 911 Carrera RS 2.7 With Epic Family Reunion

Few cars are as iconic and instantly recognizable as the Porsche 911 Carrera RS. Porsche is celebrating the RS' 50th birthday this year, and it paid tribute to the legend in the best way possible.

Earlier this year, the all-new 911 GT3 RS made its debut, and a day later, Porsche USA introduced what will eventually become a tribute package to the original RS.

The 911 Carrera RS 2.7 was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show on 5 October 1972. It was several things all rolled into one dainty but fierce package. The RS was meant to be the halo 911, a perfect way to say goodbye to the first-generation 911. It was also a homologation special, as Porsche needed to build 500 units to comply with various racing regulations, including the FIA's WRC regulations.

To celebrate, Porsche got legendary drivers Walter Rohrl and Timo Bernhard together with some of the most iconic RS models in history.

Porsche decided not to partake in WRC, but several privately-owned RSes were raced, and the car did reasonably well. Well enough to attract the attention of Walter Rohrl, which isn't an easy thing to do. Rohrl has close ties with Porsche, but he never raced the RS 2.7. He won his two WRC championship titles with Fiat Abarth and Opel, though he scored a class victory at Le Mans in 1981 behind the wheel of a 944 LM. These days Rohrl spends his time being awesome for a living. He's also a Porsche brand ambassador.

Watching him wax lyrical about the 2.7 RS is brilliant; this is the car Rohrl dreamed of owning as a young man, and he mentions it being the first car with a front and rear spoiler. The famous ducktail spoiler made the car more aerodynamically efficient, cooled the engine more efficiently, and increased the top speed by 2.8 mph.