Tag Archives: 911

Restomod

Theon Design 911 Restomod Is a Masterclass in Air-Cooled Perfection

Singer may have lit the fuse on the modern Porsche 911 restomod movement, but the fire has spread far and wide. Across the Atlantic, a handful of British builders have emerged as serious players in this rarefied art form—and Theon Design is leading that charge. Its latest creation, the result of 18 painstaking months of craftsmanship, may just be the Oxfordshire firm’s finest work yet.

At the heart of this Ice Green Metallic masterpiece is a powerplant worthy of a standing ovation. Theon’s engineers have built an air-cooled, 3.8-liter flat-six that breathes through independent throttle bodies and spins out 407 horsepower at a stratospheric 7,600 rpm. Torque peaks at 293 lb-ft (397 Nm), delivered with the kind of immediacy that only individual throttle butterflies can provide.

Those numbers alone might not scare a modern 911 GT3, which enjoys a roughly 100-hp advantage, but the Theon weighs in at a featherweight 1,150 kilograms (2,535 pounds)—a staggering 312 kilos (688 pounds) lighter than the factory GT3. Add in a five-speed manual and rear-wheel drive, and you’ve got an old-school driving experience distilled to its purest form.

And then there’s the noise. Theon’s adjustable exhaust can whisper through the village or wail like a banshee on a Sunday blast, depending on your mood and proximity to the local constabulary. A semi-active TracTive suspension keeps the car composed no matter how pockmarked the road, while a built-in lift kit spares that sculpted nose from steep driveways and unkind speed bumps. Brakes are lifted straight from the 993-generation Carrera RS, and custom 18-inch wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport rubber keep the classic silhouette planted and poised.

Every Theon begins as a bare-metal 911 shell. The company reworks and strengthens the chassis with fresh seam welding before clothing it in carbon fiber panels that mirror the original’s curves but shed precious weight. The result, finished here in a shimmering Ice Green Metallic with Polished Eclipse Chrome accents, looks as if it just rolled out of Stuttgart in a better alternate universe.

Inside, the craftsmanship borders on obsessive. Recaro CS seats with carbon fiber backs sit amid a sea of gray Alcantara and bespoke leather. The gauges are reimagined yet familiar, while a stealthy Alpine head unit feeds six Focal speakers—modern sound discreetly hidden in a cabin that still feels gloriously analog.

Of course, exclusivity like this doesn’t come cheap. Theon’s commissions start at £420,000 (about $564,000), and that’s before you even source the donor car. But for the lucky few, this is less about cost and more about curation—about owning a machine that captures the soul of the air-cooled 911 and reimagines it for the modern world.

Singer may have started the movement, but Theon Design proves the symphony of the classic 911 is far from over—and in the right hands, it might even sound better than ever.

Source: Theon Design

News

Time Travel in Light Yellow: Porsche 911 S/T, Then and Now

Some stories in the automotive world refuse to die. They sit dormant, buried in barns or archives, waiting for the right hands to bring them back to life. The Porsche 911 S/T is one of those stories—two generations, five decades apart, now reunited under one roof in the same shade of Light Yellow, paint code 117.

The Lost Racer

The year was 1972, and a Porsche 911 2.5 S/T stormed to a GT class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, wearing starting number 41. It was lean, loud, and purpose-built for endurance racing. But glory is fleeting. By the mid-1970s, the same car—once a champion—was last seen at a race in Riverdale, California, piloted by Don Lindley. After changing hands a few times, the trail went cold.

What resurfaced decades later in a barn near San Francisco was devastating: a twisted shell of rust and bad repaint jobs, a far cry from its Le Mans-winning prime. How the car went from victory lane to near oblivion remains a mystery.

The resurrection began in 2013, when a Swiss collector tracked down the carcass and shipped it to Stuttgart. The Porsche Classic experts in Zuffenhausen disassembled the remains piece by piece. They rebuilt the body using original gauges and drawings, fabricating missing parts from scratch. More than 1,000 hours of craftsmanship went into realigning and restoring the body alone. After two and a half painstaking years, the car emerged in 2016 exactly as it had in 1972: Light Yellow paint, race decals, and the number 41. This was no tribute car. It was the real thing, reborn.

The Modern Echo

Fast-forward to 2024, and the S/T badge has returned, but this time on a road-going special edition celebrating Porsche’s 60 years of the 911. Lightweight, manual-only, and powered by a 4.0-liter naturally aspirated flat-six screaming to 9,000 rpm, the new S/T is a purist’s dream.

The Swiss collector who owns the original wanted more than just a showroom piece—he wanted continuity. Enter Porsche Sonderwunsch, the in-house program for bespoke builds. The mission: recreate the 1972 Le Mans winner’s spirit in a modern package.

That meant one thing above all else: paint it Light Yellow, code 117. This wasn’t easy. The pale shade hasn’t been part of Porsche’s palette for decades, and applying it evenly over the new car’s carbon components required a level of craftsmanship more akin to restoration than production. Yet, like its ancestor, the car emerged flawless.

Finished with forged magnesium wheels in Darksilver, black brake calipers, and a stripped-back black interior, the 2024 911 S/T is the perfect bookend to the restored racer sitting beside it in the garage.

Past Meets Future

Together, the pair tells a story few marques could script. On one side, a legend reclaimed from rust and neglect, saved by Porsche Classic’s obsessive attention to detail. On the other, a modern interpretation that proves Porsche hasn’t forgotten its roots, even as it builds cars with 9,000-rpm engines and carbon fiber panels.

Both cars are survivors in their own way. One cheated death to live again. The other refuses to let driving purity die in an era dominated by electrification. And both stand united in Light Yellow—code 117—a shade that now represents not just color, but continuity.

Source: Porsche

Tuning

Indecent 020: A Modern-Day Porsche Slantnose Before Porsche Gets to It

It looks like Porsche may be preparing a modern homage to the legendary 911 Slantnose, but the aftermarket world is moving faster. A boutique builder called Indecent is about to beat Stuttgart to the punch with its own radical reimagining—the Indecent 020—set to debut before the end of the year.

For the uninitiated, Indecent isn’t just another tuner slapping wings on a 911. The company has carved out a reputation for heavily customized widebody packages for the 997 and 991 generations, with a particular flair for outlandish aerodynamics. The 020, however, promises to be something altogether bolder: a full-on reinterpretation of Porsche’s most controversial icon, the 1980s 911 Slantnose.

At first glance, the donor car is clearly a 997, but the transformation is so extensive that you’ll need a double take. The front fascia ditches traditional 911 styling in favor of a new hood carved with aggressive intakes, complemented by flared side vents and round LED headlights positioned where yawning intakes usually sit. The effect is both retro and futuristic, tipping its hat to the past while fully embracing modern aerodynamics.

The bodywork doesn’t stop at the nose. Indecent widens the front and rear fenders dramatically, adds bespoke side skirts, bolts on forged wheels, and tops it all off with a towering swan-neck carbon-fiber wing that would look at home on a GT3 R race car.

But the 020 is more than a showpiece. Underneath its reshaped skin lies a supercharged flat-six pumping out north of 600 horsepower. Power is sent to the rear wheels through a seven-speed manual transmission, making this build not just a tribute car but a driver’s weapon. Carbon-ceramic brakes, Ohlins suspension, and lightweight rolling stock round out a spec sheet that reads like a dream garage.

Production numbers remain a mystery, as does pricing, though neither will likely be modest. The question is less about cost and more about appetite: how many owners are willing to take a 997 this far from stock?

One thing is certain—Indecent’s Slantnose revival will hit the streets long before Porsche decides whether to revive the look itself. And for those who crave a mix of wild nostalgia and modern engineering, the 020 might just be the outlaw 911 of the decade.

Source: Indecent