Is This Porsche 911 the Most Exciting Thing About Indiana?
With each classic Porsche 911 that Singer reimagines, they somehow keep getting better.
The state of Indiana is not really considered exciting, unless you are a fan of the Indy 500, or traditional, fundamental heavy basketball. However, this 28th Porsche 911 reimagined by Singer Vehicle Design now resides there, so the Hoosier State has just gotten a lot more interesting. The owner, Matt Euson, is a successful businessman, an all-around car guy, and an Indiana native, so don’t be surprised to see this resto-modded classic blast by you on a narrow two-lane road on the banks of the Ohio River.
“It’s not like a new car. It’s not an exotic. When you get into those cars you come out clean, you come out pretty… When you get out of this car, you smell like you’ve been driving something vintage, something brutal.”
Though Singer updates and improves every aspect of the Porsche 911, what they don’t do is strip it of its essence or character. If anything they amplify it. Part of the appeal of the old air-cooled 911 is the smell and sound of that engine right behind you, and Singer turns those experiences up to 11; hence the Indiana vanity plate on this one that reads “GOES 2 11”.
As you might expect for a man who was born and raised in the Midwest, Matt does own quite a few American muscle cars. He’s got a classic C2 Corvette Stingray, rare Mustangs like a Shelby GT500 and a Boss 429, a modern Ford GT and more, but he also loves Porsches. Just look at the memorabilia and posters adorning the walls of his garage in the video. For years he was planning his own air-cooled 911 hot rod or outlaw car and was about to pull the trigger and take on the whole project himself when Singer Vehicle Design first appeared on the scene.
When you put the time and money into a car like this, you want the reputation of a
shop that competes in the 12 Hours of Sebring, 24 Hours of Daytona, and Baja 1000.
By now we are all familiar with what Singer does: Creates the ultimate 911 by mixing and matching parts from various years, plus updated components of only the best quality. Or, as the owner of this example puts it, they set out to “Make it look like a ’73 RSR, and have the suspension, and braking, and non-nanny aids from a 993 Turbo, and have the interior of one of the finest cars in the world. And that’s what they have done.” All it took was two years, nearly a half million dollars, and an almost fanatical devotion to quality.
The whole project started with Matt searching out a clean, solid Porsche 964 C2, with manual transmission, and no sunroof, to use as the core of the project. Next, it was shipped to the Singer workshop in Sun Valley, CA where it was stripped down to the bare tub, and rebuilt with an ungodly attention to detail. The basket weave leather on the seats doors and dash has the already broken in look of a favorite leather jacket, but at the same time is somehow flawless. The leather upholstery, as on most Singer projects, also covers the interior roll bar, as well as the luggage compartment, fuel cell, and even the engine bay.
“I’m going to drive the wheels off of it. And I have zero care about what it does to the value because that’s not why I bought it.”
Also out back in the engine bay is a 4.0 liter flat six, updated and upgraded, to produce an even 400 horsepower. A bespoke Singer induction system looks as good as it works, and tops off a power plant put together in the shop of famed race engine builder Ed Pink. Yes, the Porsche motor is more than your typical Midwest automotive machine shop can handle, but the technicians at Ed Pink build motors for the top professional road, drag, and off-road racing series, so for them it is no big deal.
When you put the time and money into a car like this, and bless it with a huge increase in power, you want the reputation of a shop that competes in the 12 Hours of Sebring, 24 Hours of Daytona, and Baja 1000 races. This car is no trailer queen, and Matt uses it like you would any other car; commuting to work, running errands, picking up the kids from football practice, and long hard weekend drives in the country.
“I’m going to drive the wheels off of it… And I have zero care about what it does to the value because that’s not why I bought it. I bought it because it is the ultimate resto-mod, hot rod [….] And I’m going to drive it until it doesn’t go anymore”