Yahoo Autos Porsche's Brand-New 993 Is a Tribute to Internal Combustion
"Project Gold" is the world's newest air-cooled Porsche. Assembled by Porsche Classic, the automaker's classic car parts and restoration division, the newly-built 993-generation 911 Turbo started from a never-used, new-old-stock body shell that had been in storage at Porsche for 20 years. Aside from the paint color and the interior trimming, it's precisely the same as a brand-new 911 Turbo you could have purchased in 1998.
And that sets it apart from the world of outlaw, restomod, or "reimagined" air-cooled Porsches, says Uwe Makrutzki, manager of Porsche Classic's factory restoration program.
"Basically, we knew that we had this body shell in our warehouse for a long time," Makrutzki told Road & Track at Monterey Car Week. The shell, an original 993 Turbo body built in 1998 but never assembled or assigned a VIN, finally found its purpose as a celebration piece to mark the upcoming 70th anniversary of the founding of Porsche.
"We decided, let's build this 993 as a brand new car, with design elements and color from the 991 Turbo S Exclusive series, but keep the heart and soul of the 993," Makrutzki said.
That meant the new-old Turbo S would be built entirely stock, using only factory parts from Porsche Classic's deep vault. Was there temptation to modify it, to add new technology, or horsepower, that wasn't available in 1998?
"We discussed it of course," Makrutzki told me. "Very quickly, we agreed not to do it. This car must be original. There is a little space for some individualizing-the interior is not 100-percent original. Other things, like an engine with 600 horsepower, or larger wheels? No. We wanted everybody to recognize this car as a 993 Turbo. That was very important. Otherwise, you would be a little bit on the Singer level."
I asked Makrutzki how he feels about the trend of modernized vintage cars.
"This is strange to me," he offered. "I do not like this. We talk about keeping the heart and soul of the car. In doing this [restomodding], you would destroy the soul. Nevertheless, it's the customer's car. I accept this, really. But I don't like this."
The original-everything strategy even went as far as the VIN assigned to Project Gold. "We finished the car in '18," Makrutzki said. "The normal way, the VIN would be from '18. But this feels not so good. We discussed it several times, then we made the decision: Let's take the last 993 Turbo VIN and add one. Do the same with the engine serial number and gearbox serial number. The car is produced in '18, but the VIN is from '98, plus one."
Sadly, that means that Project Gold might be difficult to register for street use. Despite the VIN being sequential with the last 993 built in 1998, this car was assembled in 2018, making it, technically, a 2018 model. Since the car doesn't comply with many of today's emissions, safety and noise regulations, it's likely that whoever buys the car when it goes up for auction later this year will be unable to put a license plate on it.
Not that you'd necessarily want to risk driving this thing on the street. Built from the last shell constructed during series 993 production, this 911 Turbo likely has the most valuable bodywork of any car from its generation. Porsche Classic didn't always plan to save this body shell for such a momentous vehicle.
"It was just a big spare part, nothing else," Makrutzki says of the shell. "Sometimes we discussed, what will we do with this body shell? It takes up a lot of space."
Thankfully, Porsche Classic hung on to it until it could be put to proper use as a celebration of the automaker's 70th anniversary.
Project Gold is a unique exercise for Porsche, but it fits into a larger movement in the automotive industry. In the past few years, we've seen numerous automakers delving into their histories with classic car restorations, newly-constructed old vehicles, or continuation series that pay homage to legends of the past. It feels like automakers are paying as much attention to the past as they are to the future of the automobile. I asked Makrutzki what's driving this trend.
"From my standpoint, I think we are about to experience a revolution," Makrutzki said. "You know the topic of electro-mobility. This is a hard cut. In our minds, we thought the combustion engine would persevere forever. But now this wonderful technology is in great danger. Now, it seems it will be over soon. The change will be complete.
"We like to have a view of the past, the good old time," he continued. "Perhaps we want to preserve it."
I ask Makrutzki if he could ever envision Porsche Classic doing an electric drivetrain conversion on a vintage Porsche.
"Perhaps," he replies.
"It sounds like you wouldn't be comfortable with it," I offer.
"At the moment, no," Makrutzki answers. "I have completely different ideas. Perhaps, personally, I'm too old. I've been working for Porsche 38 years. That's a long time. For me, from my Porsche Classic standpoint, it's hard to look far into the future. I feel very comfortable with the present situation, taking care of the tradition of Porsche and realizing such wonderful projects."
So if Makrutzki went to work tomorrow at Porsche Classic and his bosses told him he could build anything he wanted, what would he build?
"I have a strange idea in my head," he tells me. "I would like to build an F model [a 911 built between August 1972 and July 1973] with 959 technology. We have 18 examples of the 959 that we are working on right now, customer cars. I drive them very often, and I like the performance. I like the feeling, the way that it's 150-percent Porsche. Now, the F model looks really good, really authentic, but the performance? It's an old-timer.
"Imagine that 959 chassis, technology, powertrain, and on top you put an F model. You would have to cut it down the middle and make it wider, of course. That's not a problem, for our body maker this is nothing. Imagine on the highway, you look in your rear-view mirror. 'Is that an F model?'"
He pantomimes watching a shrieking Porsche blast by, eyes wide. "You would go, what the hell was that?'"
"You've got a tough job," I say joking, to the man in charge of Porsche Classic.
He grins, ponders for a moment, then replies simply, "yes."
('You Might Also Like',)
