The Porsche Restomod Market Is Red Hot But Still Has Some Steals
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At this point, a new Porsche 911 restomod offering seems to come out of the woodwork nearly daily. At first, it was arguably Singer Vehicle Design that had a stranglehold on the market—after all, the southern California company effectively wrote the blueprint that many others follow—but years after the air-cooled restomod market was proven to be red hot, the number of air-cooled restomod offerings still somehow seems limitless.
What makes the equation even more interesting is the fact that even though it’s the same formula—inject modern tech into older-looking cars—each shop has its own flavor. For example, Gunther Werks is all about optimizing the performance of the 993 platform. Workshop5001 is all about creations whose outright performance belies their looks. The list goes on.
And while the restomod formula applies to nearly any older beloved car, it’s the air-cooled 911 platform that seems to have attracted the most opportunists. This might be because of simple market forces, since air-cooled 911s still inspire the most envy among a certain kind of Porsche fan. But it also might be, after so many years of this, simple practice.
Here are a few recently sold Porsche restomods that, despite the veritable onslaught of new 911 restomods, indicate the market is still quite busy and quite diverse.
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1992 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Coupe
Image Credit: Bring a Trailer No list of 911 restomods would be complete without an entry or two from Singer Vehicle Design. The company famously adheres to a philosophy of “everything is important,” a maxim that underscores its meticulous attention to detail on every car it builds, from insane woven leather interiors to anal-retentively cleaned engine bays. For nine years, Singer built the Classic Study, the model that put the company on the map, which was based on a 964 donor chassis and was an amalgamation of the best bits from legendary air-cooled 911s. The Classic Study has demonstrated what Singer is capable of, both in terms of the-sky-is-the-limit levels of customization and its use of modern technology.
This 911 Carrera 2 Coupe is an early example of Singer’s Classic Study, having been completed in March 2014. As an early model, it features a 3.8-liter air-cooled flat-six engine that was developed by Cosworth and built by San Diego air-cooled guru Jae Lee of Mirage International with power around 360 horsepower. In classic Singer form, its body panels are naturally carbon fiber and its interior is replete with the brand’s characteristic woven leather. Despite showing 10,000 miles on the clock and being a 10-year-old build, this example went for $925,000 on Bring a Trailer, with many commenters agreeing that this price made the car a steal.
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1991 Porsche reimagined by Singer
Image Credit: Gooding and Co Limited to just 75 examples worldwide, the Singer DLS (Dynamics and Lightweighting Study) is on one pole of the restomod scale; it leans heavily into ultimate modern performance territory. Built in collaboration with Williams Advanced Engineering and legendary Porsche engineers Hans Mezger and Norbert Singer, the DLS is arguably the ultimate expression of the Porsche 964 platform, let alone any air-cooled 911 platform that Porsche produced. Displacing 4.0-liters, the air-cooled flat-six generates 500 horsepower and revs past 9,000 rpm, stats that are right on par with the modern 911 GT3. But unlike the GT3, the DLS weighs significantly less at 2,180 pounds compared to around 3,100 for the new 911. A Hewland six-speed transaxle handles that power and sends it to the rear wheels only.
This particular DLS is finished in Parallax White, a pearlescent hue that helps highlight the modified 911 shape, including the ducktail and enlarged fenders, especially well. Showing under 200 miles on the odometer, the new owner can look forward to symphonic induction noises—the engine’s air intakes take the place of the rear quarter windows—and unparalleled agility in an air-cooled 911. Selling for $3,085,000, the restomod market clearly hasn’t had enough (yet).
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Emory Special Speedster
Image Credit: Bring a Trailer The basic restomod formula is simple, but there are, of course, variations on the theme. Case in point: Emory Motorsports, which specializes in all varieties of the Porsche 356 and embraces more of an old-school mentality when it comes to metalwork, exterior design, and general aesthetics. That’s not to say the Emory builds lack technology—quite the contrary, as many of the 356s the shop creates feature parts from 911s, high-tech suppliers, and modern-day comforts, like electronic fuel injection and electric air conditioning.
Emory Motorsports calls this particular model an Emory Special Speedster, and this one is finished in a beautiful tropical green metallic paint and a similarly green vine green leather interior. Some of Emory’s signature touches on this example include rolled rocker panels, a louvered decklid, a more aggressive windshield rake, and the omission of the chrome bumpers 356s of this era used to sport. Based on a 1965 356C, this Emory Special Speedster is propelled by a 2.6-liter naturally aspirated flat-four cylinder engine that develops around 260 horsepower, which is more than adequate to power this featherweight. The build quality is second to none and its final auction price of $755,000 on Bring a Trailer reflects that.
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1988 Porsche 959 SC
Image Credit: Broad Arrow Auctions You may think of Bruce Canepa’s eponymous company Canepa as a restoration operation or a purveyor of pristine and rare road and race cars. And you’re right: it does both of those things. But Canepa himself is inextricably linked to the Porsche 959’s existence in the United States. See, in the mid-80s when Porsche was developing the 959, it was in such dire financial straits that the cost of crash testing its technological tour de force for NHTSA would cost the brand even more than it was already losing on each 959. Never estimate the possibilities that money and determination can create, however: to abridge a much longer story, Bruce Canepa, along with a group that included Bill Gates and Otis Chandler, were able to pass a law called “Show or Display.” This law allows certain non-federalized vehicles that have special “historical or technological significance” to be driven in the states up to 2,500 miles annually. Not only is Canepa one of the reasons we even have the 959 in the States, but he also offers a program that restores and upgrades the 959, whereby nearly every aspect of the 959 is upgraded with modern technology. He calls them the 959 SC.
Outside of simply existing in the United States, this particular example has even more historical provenance as it was acquired by Nissan Motor Company for its own benchmarking, research, and development. In Canepa’s hands, it went through his reimagination process and today develops nearly twice the original power at more than 800 horsepower (stock was around 444 horsepower). Over the four-year build, it received an Oak Green exterior and a custom brown leather interior that features a 356-inspired square weave carpet. Whether or not we’ve hit peak restomod remains to be seen, as this special Porsche sold for $3,085,000.
