Ever wonder what happens to the exotic show cars of days gone? Well, we've stumbled across techArt's 1992 Essen Motor Show star billing

Motor shows. The glitz, the glamour, the new models, the extravagant concepts, the freebies, the girls, and the one-off special that catches your eye and you want to drive home there and then.

Had you been visiting the 1992 Essen Motor Show, an event that has today grown into Europe's largest show for aftermarket tuners, tweakers and stylists, it's quite possible that you would come across this little nugget.

Taking pride of place on Porsche tuner TechArt's stand, ahead of a Ruby red, wide- arched 964 Carrera and a then-new 968 Club Sport, was this Ferrari yellow 964RS. By today's standards of 600+ horsepower 996 Turbos and GT2s that block the aisles at Essen, this 964RS was mild in comparison.

A serious weight-saving programme was the basis, with Kevlar doors, front and rear bumpers and Kevlar DTM-esque wing mirrors mounted on the A-pillars, replacing the standard items. An additional lower lip spoiler was fitted to the front bumper, and additional brake cooling ducts were worked into the bumper alongside the foglights. In place of the conventional automatic-rising rear spoiler, a twin-plane, fixed rear wing was attached to the engine cover. A final visual enhancement was a set of 18-inch six-spoke alloy wheels (8J at the front, 9.5J at the rear) wearing 225/40 ZR18 rubber on the front and 255/35 ZR18 on the rear. Painted in the same Ferrari hue as the rest of the car, they certainly stood out from the norm.

As did the adjustable roll-cage, winged race seats, leather retrim and painted (body colour) instrument dials.

Having been built specifically for the '92 Show, the 964RS returned to TechArt's Leonburg showroom, where it resided on full view until sold to one of TechArt's official suppliers in 1996.

So, why are we now in north Norfolk shivering our bits off in the name of art, recording this little-used piece of nostalgia to Fugi's finest?

The 964RS has found its way into the UK via European import specialist MCP Motorsport, and when company owner Martin Pearse offers you a go before its new owner takes delivery, it would be rude not to.

Approaching its 11th birthday, this RS still looks factory fresh. A few blemishes on the Kevlar front bumper hint at the 30 thousand or so kilometres it has racked up. The leather interior is barely worn in, and thankfully, has replaced the original Ferrari yellow steering wheel for a delicious Momo three-spoke item.

Responding instantly to the turn of the key, the RS's 3.6-litre flat-six barks into life through the TechArt sports exhaust, and while snapper Antony Fraser and Martin traded local knowledge for suitable locations for the photography, I reacquaint myself with the 964's haphazard interior layout that, thankfully, limits itself to the switchgear and instrument layout, and leaves the pedals, gearshift and steering wheel perfectly placed for the driver.

With a destination sorted, it takes the short journey through MCP's Sheringham base to discover that if you think a regular 964RS is a bit on the stiff side, you could be forgiven for thinking TechArt had actually forgotten to fit any dampers.

The bigger, and lower profile wheel and tyres certainly don't help the situation, but it will be nice when we get on the open road to stretch the RS's legs and get the suspension working properly.

North Norfolk may be at the end of the earth, but with next to no traffic and wide, open, sweeping roads, the RS comes into its element. The howl over your shoulder is intoxicating like no liquor you can buy. The savage punch as the revs climb through to the 6000rpm peak (there's a possibility the engine could have been upgraded to around 325bhp, but there's no supporting evidence) throws you firmly back into the bucket seats, while your hands filter the data on offer at the wheel through to your control centre.

Nibbling at the tarmac beneath, the RS is easily unsettled by imperfections and heavy-handed inputs, but so long as you don't over-react when things get a bit twitchy you can cut a path that would see you attached to the tails of today's quickest sports cars. Spot a longer sweeping curve ahead and you'll be surprised at the pace you can carry into, through and out of it. It's an undiluted 964RS experience, and one that you'll only better by spending a day at a track to explore, push and enjoy its race-bred dynamics.

Combine the behind-the-wheel experience with the visual allure of this rarest of 964RS', and you've got yourself a very special Porsche 911 experience indeed. Yes, some will say that a 964RS should be left alone, kept in its purest form and allowed to blossom into the undoubted classic it is becoming.

But what we have here is much more than a secondhand, modified 911. It's a well-respected tuner's showpiece, the pinnacle of their talents at the time, a unique piece of machinery with a history that very rarely makes it off the show stand, let alone onto the open market and into the hands of an enthusiast.

Costing a cool £13,000 on top of the 964RS's £63,544 1992 list price, you could drive away today with this piece of automotive memorabilia for around half that total. Overpriced for a 964RS? Perhaps, but where and when are you likely to be presented with a showpiece like this again?