Tag Archives: vehicles

Restomod

The Singer 911 Carrera Cabriolet Is the Ultimate Open-Top Porsche Restomod

There are two ways to revive a classic: freeze it in amber, or set it free. Singer Vehicle Design has never been interested in preservation for preservation’s sake. Its cars don’t merely look backward—they reinterpret. And with the newly revealed 911 Carrera Cabriolet, Singer has applied that same obsessive, no-compromises philosophy to the open-air Porsche formula, producing what might be the most technically serious “classic” convertible ever built.

If last year’s Singer 911 Coupe was a greatest-hits album of air-cooled Porsche engineering, this new Cabriolet is the unplugged acoustic set—still ferocious, just more intimate.

Wide-Body Nostalgia, Carbon-Fiber Reality

Singer’s latest creation draws inspiration from the swollen-hipped 911s of the 1980s, particularly the competition-bred wide-body cars that made even parked Porsches look like they were doing 150 mph. That visual DNA is clear here, from the exaggerated fender flares to the pop-up auxiliary lights sunk into the hood like something lifted from a Group B fever dream.

Two distinct personalities are offered. The Pacific Blue Touring version is elegant, riding on white 18-inch center-locking wheels and capped with an active rear spoiler and subtle front splitter. The Guards Red Sport car goes for blood: massive intakes, a deeper splitter, and a fixed whale-tail wing that could probably generate downforce on a coffee table.

Both bodies are formed entirely from carbon fiber, which means the visual drama isn’t weighed down by vintage metal. It’s retro styling executed with modern aerospace materials—and that’s Singer’s signature move.

A Cabin That Feels Mechanical, Not Digital

Inside, the Cabriolet avoids the temptation to look like a smartphone showroom. Instead, it feels like a cockpit built by people who love machinery. Ink-colored leather and red accents dominate one example, while the other pairs Tangerine hides with sport seats that look ready for a Nürburgring qualifying lap. Hand-stitched seams and hand-built details remind you that this is craftsmanship, not manufacturing.

The dashboard and instruments are new, but they could have come straight out of a high-end 1980s concept car. The three-spoke steering wheel feels era-correct, yet nothing here feels trapped in the past. There’s modern climate control, navigation, and Apple CarPlay—because even purists need Google Maps.

Singer also redesigned the roof. The lightweight Z-folding fabric top tucks away cleanly, keeping the car’s silhouette sleek whether it’s raised or lowered—no awkward tent-back shapes here.

Cosworth Power, Air-Cooled Soul

Under that long rear decklid lives the reason this car exists. The 4.0-liter flat-six was developed with Cosworth, and it’s one of the most exotic air-cooled engines ever made for a road car. It produces 426 horsepower and 450 Nm of torque, revs past 8,000 rpm, and blends old-school cooling with modern tech like variable valve timing, water-cooled cylinder heads, and an electronically controlled fan.

In other words, it’s a mechanical anachronism perfected by modern science.

Power goes to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox, which can be ordered with its shifting mechanism left gloriously exposed. The titanium exhaust exits through dual pipes and ensures the soundtrack is as intense as the engineering suggests.

Reinforced Roots, Modern Handling

Every Singer starts with a Porsche Type 964 chassis, but calling this car “based on” an old 911 is misleading. The monocoque is reinforced with steel and composite materials, dramatically increasing torsional rigidity—an especially big deal for a convertible.

Suspension comes via four-way electronically adjustable dampers, paired with a nose-lift system for urban survival. Buyers can spec carbon-ceramic brakes and Michelin Pilot Sport tires, while five drive modes—Road, Sport, Track, Off, and Weather—tailor the traction and stability systems to whatever insanity you’re planning.

Yes, it’s a classic 911. No, it will not behave like one.

A Million-Dollar Convertible? Easily.

Singer will build just 75 of these Cabriolets, each tailored to its owner and priced accordingly. Official figures remain secret, but let’s not kid ourselves—seven figures is the opening bid.

And that’s kind of the point. This isn’t a restomod. It’s a philosophical argument made from carbon fiber, titanium, and 8,000-rpm fury. Singer’s 911 Carrera Cabriolet proves that going topless doesn’t mean going soft—and that the golden age of air-cooled Porsches might actually be happening right now.

If you’re chasing authenticity, buy a museum piece.
If you want the past, perfected, Singer has a very expensive key waiting for you.

Source: Singer

Tuning

When a 1971 Mercedes 600 Swallows a 2024 AMG—and Somehow Lives

In the world of restomods, subtlety usually goes to die. But what the Californian tuning house S-Klub LA has pulled off with its latest creation, Final Boss, isn’t just unsubtle—it’s audacious in the way only a moonshot engineering project can be. Take a stately Mercedes-Benz 600 (W100), the rolling throne once favored by dictators and tycoons, and surgically graft it onto the bleeding-edge underpinnings of a Mercedes-AMG S63 E Performance. What you get is a car that looks like it escaped from a fever dream but drives like a modern super-sedan on steroids.

This isn’t your garden-variety “drop in a crate motor and call it a day” restomod. S-Klub LA founder Ed Sarkisyan didn’t just modernize the W100—he effectively reincarnated it. After buying a factory-fresh S63 for north of $200,000 and putting about 6,200 kilometers on it, Sarkisyan and his team tore it down for parts. Meanwhile, a long-forgotten 1971 Mercedes 600 shell, discovered rotting in a Texas warehouse, was painstakingly resurrected. The twist? The old body didn’t have to be forced to accept new bones—the wheelbase of the classic W100 and today’s long-wheelbase S-Class (V223) is eerily close. So the team ditched the seventies chassis entirely and dropped the restored 600 body onto the complete modern S63 platform.

What lies beneath that regal, boxy silhouette is pure 21st-century insanity. The Final Boss packs the S63’s 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 paired with an electric motor, good for more than 800 horsepower and a truly obscene 1,424 Nm of torque. That’s hypercar output in something that, at a glance, looks like it should be chauffeuring a Cold War-era head of state. And it’s not just the powertrain that made the jump. The adaptive suspension, massive AMG brakes, and the full electronic nervous system came along for the ride, including the MBUX infotainment suite, massage seats, and a full menu of driver-assistance tech.

Crack open the door and the time warp becomes complete. Where you’d expect polished wood, chrome toggles, and the smell of vintage leather, you instead find a fully digital AMG cockpit, crammed into the relatively narrow greenhouse of a 1970s limousine. It’s as if someone hid a modern S-Class inside a museum piece—and then gave it launch control.

Outside, subtlety was clearly not on the design brief. To match the S63’s wide track, the 600’s bodywork has been aggressively flared. The headlights are a particularly wild bit of nerdy craftsmanship: the original W100 housings were 3D-scanned, digitally re-engineered, and then adapted to swallow the AMG’s modern LED units, complete with functional air intakes. The deep green paint is offset by exposed carbon fiber on the roof, mirrors, and aero trim, giving the old-money silhouette a distinctly new-money edge.

And then there’s the internet, doing what the internet does best. While many enthusiasts are in awe of the sheer engineering effort—calling it “next-level” and “a work of art”—others are clutching their pearls over the styling, especially out back. The massive, JDM-style fixed rear wing and the oversized Mercedes star in the grille have become lightning rods for criticism, turning the Final Boss into a rolling comment-section war.

But that, in a way, is the whole point. The original Mercedes-Benz 600 was never meant to be tasteful—it was meant to be the biggest, baddest luxury car on the planet. S-Klub LA’s Final Boss simply updates that mission for an era of 800-horsepower hybrids and carbon fiber. Love it or hate it, this is what happens when a classic icon meets modern excess head-on—and refuses to blink.

Source: S-KLUB LA via YouTube

NEW CARS

FIAT Topolino Gets a Shot of Vitamin C—and a Bigger Brain

Some cars try to change the world with megawatts, torque figures, and Nürburgring lap times. The FIAT Topolino takes the opposite approach: it changes cities by being charming, tiny, and completely unbothered by automotive machismo. And for 2025, FIAT has made its electric quadricycle even more lovable, splashing it in a sunny new Corallo paint and giving it a modernized digital cockpit that finally feels worthy of the times.

Think of it less as a car and more as a rolling espresso shot—small, bright, and guaranteed to perk up your day.

Corallo: Because Cities Deserve More Color

FIAT has always treated color as part of its brand DNA, and Corallo fits that philosophy like a tailored Italian jacket. Warm, optimistic, and sun-kissed, it gives the Topolino a visual punch that makes even the dullest concrete canyon feel a little more Mediterranean. Where the existing Verde Vita looks fresh and eco-cool, Corallo brings emotion—like parking a slice of Amalfi Coast between two gray hatchbacks.

The strategy is simple and clever: one model, two personalities. Pick green for zen. Pick coral for joy.

A Digital Upgrade Where It Counts

Inside, FIAT has addressed the one place where the Topolino previously felt a bit toy-like: its screen. The new digital cluster grows from a tiny 3.5 inches to a much more usable 5.7 inches, with an overall display area of 8.3 inches. More importantly, the graphics have been cleaned up and simplified, making it easier to read at a glance and far more inviting.

This is exactly what urban EVs need—clarity without complexity. No gimmicks, no clutter, just the information you want when you want it.

Still the King of the Quadricycle Jungle

None of this would matter if the Topolino wasn’t already winning—and it very much is. In 2025, it locked down the number-one spot in Europe’s quadricycle market with a staggering 20-percent share. That’s not hype; that’s domination.

The reasons are obvious the moment you try to live with one. At just 2.53 meters long, the Topolino slides into parking spaces most cars wouldn’t even attempt. Its 45-km/h top speed and 75-km range from a 5.4-kWh battery sound modest, but in dense European cities, they’re perfectly judged. It’s quick enough, small enough, and cheap enough to make daily mobility feel effortless rather than stressful.

Plug it in at home, skip the fuel stations, and glide straight into traffic-restricted city centers that conventional cars can only dream of.

Small on the Outside, Surprisingly Cheerful Inside

FIAT also knows how to work the magic of smart packaging. The staggered seating and expansive glass surfaces give the Topolino a cabin that feels open, bright, and almost playful. It’s not luxury—but it doesn’t pretend to be. Instead, it offers something better: a sense that driving through a crowded city doesn’t have to be miserable.

A Love Letter to Urban Mobility

Launching the Corallo Topolino just before Valentine’s Day feels more intentional than gimmicky. This is a vehicle designed to be fallen for, not obsessed over. It’s not trying to be the future of all transportation—just the best possible companion for life inside a city.

With its new color and smarter digital face, the Topolino doubles down on what it already does best: turning everyday urban travel into something that looks good, feels good, and—dare we say it—makes you smile.

Source: Fiat