This is the first Porsche 911 to get Singer and Williams' 500-horsepower engine

6 years, 4 months ago - 15 November 2017, autoblog
This is the first Porsche 911 to get Singer and Williams' 500-horsepower engine
A few months ago, we told you about a wild 500-horsepower flat-six engine that the Singer restoration company developed with a division of Williams, the company that runs a Formula 1 team with the same name.

Now we finally get our first look at the first Porsche 911 that Singer put the engine into. And while the color may not be for everyone, there's no question that it's still a beautiful and finely updated vehicle.

The car started as a 1990 Porsche 911 964, but you'd be hard pressed to tell that anymore. A backdated hood, bumper and turn signals have all been fitted to give it a more classic look. It also features a slew of Singer body enhancements to make it more aggressive. The obvious ones are the beefy fender flares, ducktail spoiler and the ground effects and rear diffuser.

There are some fascinating but subtler details, too. Looking at it from the top, you'll notice that the roof and the rear window have been scalloped in a way that echoes the same indentation on the hood. That scalloping flows into a small roof wing that fits the contours of the stock roof. The door handles are no longer full arches. Instead, the handles end about half-way, looking like a miniature version of what you'd find on '50s refrigerators. The rear quarter windows also now contain large intake vents for the engine.

Inside, the unification of modern and retro continues. Rich "Blood Orange"-hued leather wraps the seats that feature classic-looking metal rings. It also accents the clean, simple dash. But there is also extensive use of carbon fiber throughout, and the shapes of the seats and geometric door cutouts are thoroughly modern. Additional fine details include the exposed metal shift linkages below the knob and boot and the visible carbon fiber intake for the engine passing through what used to be the rear seating area.

1990 Porsche 911 reimagined by Singer

Of course making this Porsche 911 beautiful isn't all Singer did to it. The restoration company also worked hard with help from Williams and other partners to make it a serious performer. In addition to the 500-horsepower 4.0-liter engine, many parts have been made as light as possible. That includes the forged Fuchs-style wheels from BBS, lightweight brake calipers and carbon composite brake rotors from Brembo and a transmission with lots of magnesium from Hewland. Altogether, they help the car achieve a "minimum vehicle weight" of about 2,180 pounds. The car's aerodynamics were also tweaked with the help of Williams, which included some new underbody parts, and the adjustable suspension comes from EXE-TC.

This particular Porsche 911, which was sent to Singer for modification by Scott Blattner, won't be the only one to benefit from the work. According to Singer, it will offer parts and technology developed on this project to 75 other clients. Those vehicles won't be like Blattner's though, since Singer works with individual clients to modify and restore each person's Porsche the way they would like. This also means that none of them will cost the same price, and hence why Singer doesn't offer specific pricing for its work. We look forward to seeing what other owners ask for down the road, but in the meantime, we'll drool over this car for a while longer.

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