Ok, so you’ve probably heard the deal.

You buy an early 90’s 911 but are not quite sure it’s giving you the required style you thought you were buying into. It hasn’t got that hollowed out, race-bred leftism that your favourite, early seventies 911 classics came to the table with.

All you have to do is hand it over to Singer.

They will create something gobsmackingly, darn right beautiful like this. We’re not sure how much it’ll cost you (probably an arm and a leg) but god will it be worth it.

We stumbled across this set of pictures at one of our favourite online haunts A TIME TO GET but go to the SINGER SITE for the inside track on exactly what these guys do for a living.

It might not be original, but my word is it lovely. There’s me and my mind drive for the weekend sorted, then….

It’s no secret that we’re ambivalent about the 911. Until we drove a couple, we were a little sneery ourselves. You just see so many of the things that contempt is bound to arise through so much familiarity.

On the one hand, it is of course the ultimate, usable supercar. Most people stumbling upon this blog will have at one point or another fanstasised about being a 911 owner.

They are incredible cars and the formula has been honed to a fine edge at Stuttgart all the way from 1963. And aficionados insist that each Evolution of the rear engined wunderkind is simply better than the previous.

In their stripped down GT and RS guises the 911 is a pure race-bred monsters. The Turbos have retained their hooligan chic amid the bug eyed ubiquity and even bog-standard spec-levels of the contemporary Carrera can be tweaked easily to create a unique, reliable, usable daily drive of style, speed and panache.

On the other, of course, the Porsche 911 is an over-refined evolution of the Beetle format, the impulse buy of the bonus jockey and mainstay of high-earning yummie mummies in the Waitrose carpark.

It’s testament to the brilliant longevity of the idea that is the 911 that each part of this broad spectrum holds more than a grain of truth.

We when we stumbled upon this set of amateur snaps from a factory tour some time, we reckon, in the early seventies, you realise that there was a raw artisan element to Porsche’s of that early period that laid the foundations of the brand and facilitated all those technical evolutions.

Nostalgia again — for a time we barely knew. We’d like a 1972 RS Coupé. In orange with blue rims. Please.

Photos via Cinelli Guy

When we saw the new 911 last week, we were immediately struck by the size of the overhang. We thought it made the car look ugly.

It’s predictable that when a new version of the totemic Porsche comes along, it puts the cat among the pigeons. You get used to seeing so many of the current edition at any one time, it’s always going to be an aesthetic jar when a new version comes along. Human nature is draw to the familiar and rejects instinctively anything that disturbs that comforting field.

The 911 with its big flat six buried in the rear overhang itself ever since its conception at the start of the sixties, has always been a rare exceptions — a sports car that works with a lot of rear overhang.

Balance, handling, performance and aesthetic considerations all go into the mix when designers make decisions about something so fundamental to a car’s very ethos as how much steel extends out beyond the wheelbase.

In cars with the engine in the front, a rear overhang of course helps with storage — and a bit of for’ard overhang will balance this out aesthetically and also accommodate a nice big engine. You see this a lot on family wagons and tourers, particularly your BMW five and seven series cars and the genres they dominate.

When you stick the engine in the rear as in the 911, you situate the mass of the engine to the aft of the the wheelbase, which contributes to that delicious back-happiness as well as providing a nice rear crumple zone to protect in the case of a collision.

So, while your sports car designer has usually sought to reduce overhang, we can think of at least two sporty cars with loads of it. Think of the E-Type, with an acreage of front and rear overhang (beautiful thought it is) and the love-it-or-hate-it Saab Sonnet (below) which had a spectacular amount of front overhang but hardly any at the rear. We’ve never driven a Sonnet, so we wouldn’t know, but we imagine it must have suffered from terrible understeer…

And predictably, now we’ve had a few days to mull over these things, we’re kind of digging the new 911’s long, low, sleek lines. And you can bet it’s going to be a gem to drive.

911 2.7 RS (1973)

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Ok, let’s get the obvious one out of the way. This is arguably the all time collectors classic 911 and built for FIA Group 4 homologation. If you are lucky enough to take a ride in one you will be stunned at the lightness and the tactile embrace of the stiffened suspension. I’d like mine in yellow please.

914/4 (1970)

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The first generation VW collaboration gets more appealing with age. Aimed squarely at the Californian market when it was released, it oozes a west coast style that is strangely inappropriate off Highway 1. Madly progressive for the time, you have to think of the Alfa Spider duetto and the Karmann Ghia for its antecedents. But that rear end is one of the greatest in the history of car design and eclipsed that of either of them.

917 (1970)

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Again, sort of obvious, the 917 in all of its manifestations is full of bombast, Wagnerian pomp — this 240 MPH racer was scarier than Colonel Kilgore and a Napalm-infused dawn. To think that it was actually homologated and some lunatics have driven them on the road is gobsmacking. The original Mulsanne muncher will never be surpassed.

356 B Carrera Abarth Coupé (1960)

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This aluminium bodied collaboration with Karlo Abarth managed to retain the signature line of the marque whilst adding something rakishly dynamic and different. It was brave of Herr Porsche to let go of some creative control — and Karl Abarth finally went ahead and commissioned ex-Bertone designer Franco Scaglione to build the original shells. Scaglione then apparently did a moonlight flit and offed with (some of) the money. A German-Italian collaboration that ended as badly as that of Il Duce and the Fuhrer. Both pairings left some handsome machinery that were great at their job.

Panamera Turbo (2009)

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Ok. We don’t care what Clarkson & Hammond think of this car’s looks. It remains an incredible creation. It is infused with all the values of Porsche’s long history of innovation. A friend of ours let us have a blast recently and it drives like a huge, hugely fast 911 that’s loaded up with too many Knoodle. And in our opinion, it is at least as good looking as Aston Martin’s Rapide (from certain angles). If you’re into executive wafters, you will waft more executively in this than anything else out there.

908/03 Spyder (1970)

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We fell in love with this thing after seeing it fly up the hill at Goodwood. It won the Targo Florio in 1970 and that graphic design is genius. Its average speed around Sicily was 140 KMH — and if you’ve ever seen the twisty roads of that beautiful island, you’ll know how incredible that is. It pushed 350 BHP and it only weighed 545KG fully loaded with fuel. That short wheelbase must have made it drive like a midget demon. Spectacular.

The cult of the Porsche 911 is replete with subtle aesthetic shifts in its iconography. Enthusiasts worldwide pore continuously over the minutiae of designation numbers and cooling systems. Ducktails are tutted over; transmission types, Targa panels and sunroofs debated; colour, creed and class populate its geekery perhaps more than any other subdivision of the international nation of Porsche enthusiasts.

The reason for this is fairly clear — that the basic form of the Porsche 911 hasn’t changed since its launch in 1963 — but the range of cars available in this near half-century is almost too complex to document with any clarity.

Of course, one of the main reasons the 911 has retained its perennial appeal is that Porsche has never rested on its laurels. Right from the start, the search for a perfectly usable car that is as desirable and status-signifying as it is practical has led to an incredible variety of iconic types within the overarching brand of the Porsche 911.

One of the most intriguing manifestations of these time-shifts is the phenomenon of the ‘back-date.’ This is where an owner takes a modern 911 — perhaps one of the more accessible and affordable versions — and customises it in a retrogressive manner. In this way, the classic elements of 911s past can be woven seamlessly into the more recent evolutions — and a hybrid is formed, a kind of modern classic that can be tailored to a punters very specific requirements.

This sort of thing may make the purists wince — but surely if a motor car of true beauty is created as a result of this sort of backdate in homage to versions past — isn’t that something to be admired?

One of the high-points of this sort of reverse-customisation is this black beauty that is currently based in California.

It is based on a 1988 G50 Carrera sunroof coupé.

The original 3.6 motor is still there, but 993 brakes are added. Those Fuchs-style alloys are custom built and there is a fully upgraded track-calibrated suspension package. The transmission has been upgraded too with lightweight flywheels and all sorts of trickery. It has been repainted back to its original black– and there are there are fiberglass bumpers and bonnet whilst the original metal Carrera flares are retained.

The car’s interior has received a complimentary retro treatment but there is still the power windows, air conditioning, and heated seats. The look is complimented nicely by those sexy Tag Heuer Chronographs — and there are upgraded Xenon headlights and very modern but retro-styled harnesses keep the driver and passenger safe.

A quick Google around will show up a number of decent examples of late-eighties 911s for something in the region of £12-18K, and while you can expect to spend a pretty penny giving it the retro treatment to the standard of this car, it’s a prospect that really appeals to many of us who aspire to own a stone-cold classic original — but whose budgets may not fully meet the standards required.

There are a number of specialist workshops that will take on your project for you — notably PS Autoart — a company that has transformed many a workaday Stuttgart stomper into a bespoke dream ride.

Fuel for thought. In this eco-conscious age you can think of it as high-end recycling.

Images © Copyright Edge Photographics, 2011.

It felt a little like the end of the world. The road ran straight though the blackened earth and charred tree stumps left on the bleak, high moorland by wildfires. But there was no chance of reignition; the sky was a leaden grey and sent whips of wind and rain across the black-and-white landscape.

It wasn’t the end of the world, but it is very nearly the end of the earth: Tasmania, home to some of the world’s greatest driving roads, made great not least by their unworldly setting. And the car seemed utterly appropriate: a Porsche 911 GTS. In white with its black detailing – wheels, exhaust tips – it fitted right into the stark monochrome scene. And I’ve always thought that when the apocalypse does come, the Porsche’s insuperable mechanical toughness means that only cockroaches and the 911 will remain.

“Tell us the history of the 911,” said the editor, “and its importance to car culture.” In 800 words? I nearly declined the commission. You need a three-volume opus to attempt that; not a short article. The 911 has such longevity, so many iterations and so many devotees that any attempt to summarize it is going to have to play very fast and loose with history, and is guaranteed to invoke someone’s ire.

But I’d just got back from the Targa Tasmania, where I’d had a graphic demonstration of the three reasons why this decades-old, wilfully idiosyncratic design has become one of the very few cars that deserves the ‘icon’ status that lazy motoring journalists like to apply to lesser models that have been with us for mere minutes by comparison with the 911’s near half-century.

The Targa Tasmania, if you’re not familiar with it, is an annual five-day, 1200-mile road rally and crash-fest. The rules are pretty loose. There are lots of categories, but the most important are the awards for the fastest classic and modern car. Your car needs to have been on sale at some point and in some form; you need safety kit and are fairly free to tune it. For an entry fee of around £3500 you get to drive flat-out over closed sections of the island’s stupendous roads, with everything from dizzying series of cambered switchbacks running up the sides of mountains to terrifying 170mph straights over the blackened moors.

So, those three reasons. First, the toughness. In the classic section, Rex Broadbent won for the fifth time in a row in his ’74 RS. Rex rarely races; his technique is to start slow and break himself in gently, and allow the front-running vintage Aussie muscle cars with hundreds more horsepower to break, while he relies on the 911’s reliability to win. He says that between Targas he just changes the pads and wipes the car over.

Not that Rex isn’t quick; by day four he was blistering. But he wasn’t as fast as double World Rally Champion Walter Rohrl, who was competing in the 1981 911SC he drove in that year’s San Remo rally. Rohrl – the driver’s driver, one of the most versatile and naturally gifted ever to compete – was busy demonstrating Reason Two.

With the engine at the back, the 911’s endless list of race and rally wins have been victories over physics as much as the competition. But that’s part of the appeal. Modern 911s are a whole lot more predictable than the early cars, but you still need to be good to drive one quickly.

You’ll never be as good as Walter, who just looked 20 per cent faster than everyone else through the bends and the rain despite a museum-piece car without the modern modifications of its ‘classic’ rivals. But you’ll want to try; unlike almost-sentient modern sports cars like the Nissan GT-R, the 911 doesn’t reduce the driver to the slowest, stupidest link in the chain, and it at least helps with about the best brakes and steering and gearchange you’ll find.

Reason Three was in the Targa’s modern section. I was pretty pleased to be chasing the race in the 402bhp, wide-bodied, rear-drive GTS, which we thought might be the final version (and one of the best) of this generation of 911 before the new one arrives, probably at the Frankfurt show in September.

But no. Porsche has managed to fit two more new derivatives into the few months between the GTS appearing, and the start of the Targa Tasmania. Aussie racing legend Jim Richards is 63 and has won the Bathurst 1000 seven times and the Targa eight, and is racing one of those two new cars, the insane 620bhp GT2 RS. Six hundred and twenty horsepower. In a 911 with number plates, which you can (in theory) wander into a Porsche dealership and buy.

That reason? That the 911 is a triumph of development over design, and it’s astonishing how much performance Porsche continues to pull from an unpromising basic concept. Once, it worried that its odd-looking rear engined sports car might have run its race, and it commissioned the front-engined 928 as a replacement. The 928 was a fine car, but the 911 kept getting better. Porsche won’t make that mistake again, and the new 911 it reveals later this year will just be another development of the same simple theme.

In your dreams you saw a glimpse of something interesting through a dusty warehouse window…you prised open the rotten old doorway..and there were 51. Yes 51 911s gathering the detritus of time and age.

Faston Hanks may be a literary creation — a fictional Automotive sleuth dreamt up in the fertile imagination of writer photographer Kevin Gosselin — but ye gads is this not the most unbelievable phenomenon?

If legend is actually true and this is not in reality some kind of grand and pointless hoax, this stash of Stuttgart steel was found in, of all places, deepest Wyoming

It may be stating the obvious that the vehicle of choice in said Western State is the Mack truck and the Mule — rather than the iconic german coupé. We’ve been staring at this story all day long and we still can’t work out how all these motors ended up here.

Answers on a postcard please!

Photos and full story by Kevin Gosselin
via A Time To Get

OK: so it goes without saying that the Porsche Turbo is probably the most iconic performance car brand in Automotive history. So, when the company releases a new edition of the Turbo, it’s going to cause waves.

The 2010 Turbo S, which will be unveiled in at the forthcoming Geneva show, will boast power figures of 530 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque. And along with these new power figures it looks as if performance has gone through the roof.

The company reckons that the 911 Turbo S accelerates from a 0–62 mph (0–100 km/h) in 3.3 seconds and reaches 124 mph (200 km/h) in 10.8 seconds. Top speed is 196 mph (315 km/h). Lightweight and fade-resistant Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes will) provide the same sublime anchoring, too.

The usual elements are there of course : the rear-mounted six-cylinder ‘boxer’ engine boosted by two turbochargers with something called ‘variable turbine geometry’. And despite its significant increase in power and performance, Porsche reckon it will return 24.8 mpg Combined (11.4 l/ 100 km) –exactly the same, that is, as the existing straight ahead Turbo. Serious tech has been bought to bear to squeeze 30 more horses for identical fuel consumption.

The first Turbo S in five years comes with new standard equipment, including Dynamic Cornering Lights, 19-inch RS Spyder-style wheels, adaptive sports seats, cruise control, a CD/DVD changer and two-tone leather.

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We think this beauty approaches the utilitarian loveliness of the 993 Turbo (Below), favourite turbo to date.

What’s your favourite Turbo?

Britain’s racing circuits are being graced with the striking and colourful sight of Sarah Bennett-Baggs behind the wheel of her bright pink 1978 Porsche 911 SC, sponsored by Adrian Flux.

Sarah is competing in the Porsche Club Championship for the first time, but having raced for three seasons in Britcar Production Saloons, as well as the Formula Women Series, she’s proving to be no pushover and has already won races in the Championship.

She’s the only woman in the field, so is her choice of colour a provocative move? “Maybe it’s a bit of a shock,” she laughs. “But it’s a great colour and the ‘pink panther’ style really stands out — it’s actually the original Porsche Rubystone Red. The colour also matches Flux Babes’ pink lady logo, which is a nice tie-in with my sponsor.

“I don’t think it’s provocative. At first glance some people may think it’s funny, but fortunately the stop watch doesn’t lie — and there’s no disguising ability in a one-marque championship such as this.”

Can Sarah win the Championship? “I’m still getting used to racing a 30 year old car — it’s a steep learning curve — and there are guys on the circuit who have years of experience in them. But I am going to get results and will be beating myself up about it after each race if I don’t.”

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“A supercar you can use everyday.” The 911, in its various guises has always aimed for that accolade, but, the 993 Turbo was the ultimate combination of luxury, performance and excitement. Benefitting from an all-new multi-arm rear suspension, which reduced the tendency to oversteer traditionally found on the 911. Uprated brakes, improved power steering and a dual-flow exhaust system balanced against the thrill of that legendary flat six engine at the back to create a tamed monster.

This was the last air-cooled turbo, but the first fitted with all wheel drive, electronic engine management and OBD-II onboard diagnostics. This car is the fusion of a glorious heritage with the white heat of technology.

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