A special bespoke 911 Turbo has been unveiled at the 2023 Icons of Porsche in Dubai, a modern-day interpretation of the very first 911 Turbo.
The unveiling was a part of the festival’s celebration of 60 years of the iconic 911 model, as well as a showcase of the extensive capabilities of the Porsche Sonderwunsch personalisation program.
The project was a collaboration between Style Porsche, Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur and the Porsche Middle East and Africa regional office.
The inspiration for the project was the original prototype commissioned for Louise Piëch, daughter of Ferdinand Porsche, back in 1974. The 911 model with chassis number #9115600042 which was a prototype that left the Zuffenhausen factory on 17 July 1974 and was given Piëch for her 70th birthday on 29 August 1974.
Unlike the regular production examples of the 911 Turbo, this car featured a narrow-chassis 911 Carrera body, yet debuted the large, Turbo rear wing. It was distinguished by its use of chequered Tartan fabric on red interior that was personally chosen by Piëch to go with its silver exterior.
“This very special car is not only a showcase of what is possible with our Porsche personalisation programs,” said Dr Manfred Bräunl, Chief Executive Officer, Porsche Middle East and Africa FZE.
“It also highlights the brave and pioneering Porsche spirit as we look back to the inspiration for this project, the very first 911 Turbo.”
Sonderwunsch and Exclusive Manufaktur
The goal of the Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur division is to fulfil personal customer requests, and thereby create a unique vehicle, that is both bespoke and highlights the owner’s individuality and personality.
Sonderwunsch is the special request arm of both Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur and the Porsche Classic department, which takes personalisation to the highest level where almost anything is possible, hence the slogan: ‘you dream it, we build it’.
“The initial idea for this project began a year ago,” said Patrick Gallas, Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur Manager, Porsche Middle East and Africa.
“We wanted to create a modern iteration of a car that was truly unique. Luckily for us, there is no shortage of Porsche cars that people label as icons. We elected to ‘remaster’ one of the greatest icons of them all, the original 911 Turbo prototype from Louise Piech.”
“This car is interesting not only because of the engine, narrow body and large rear wing. It also had a unique interior that was our focus point to be recreated for the new car.”
New twist on exterior features
With very few silver choices available in the early 1970’s, the original car featured a standard silver exterior colour. The Sonderwunsch Turbo features the historically significant ‘GT silver’ that is available as a metallic standard colour for all 911 Turbo models.
The Exclusive Manufaktur options fitted are also available on the car configurator, including its SportDesign Package and body colour-painted rear side intakes as well as exterior mirrors. However some components are offset with matte black paint, specially requested to recreate the appearance of the original car from 1974.
Unique decals were created by Style Porsche designers in Weissach, with an added a twist of a subtle decal under the rear wing. Special approval was also provided by Porsche Classic to use the old turbo rear badge from the first ever production turbo.
“This badge was not on the original car because it was a prototype, but it’s period correct and looks great,” said Gallas.
One of the key identifiers of the early 911 Turbo was the black Fuchs alloy wheels. Exclusive Manufaktur has managed to recreate this look with a bespoke paintjob on the available five spoke 911 Turbo Exclusive Design rim.
The painted rim resembles the style of the original car. While the rim itself is available, the way it was painted through the Sonderwunsch department makes it stand out from the regular look of the wheel.
Unique fabric pattern, two-tone interior
The interior features a modified version of the Heritage Design Classic package, which includes the retro-looking green illuminated dials at the ref-counter as well as in the Sport Chrono dial as an historic reference. However, portions of the usual leather and pepita fabric that comes with the Heritage Design Classic package made way for a fully bespoke, customised trim to match Piëch’s request on the original car.
The original red and blue chequered Tartan fabric trim was recreated for the interior, including in the glove compartment and in the frunk, and with the help of the Sonderwunsch department, the interior has emerged as a two-tone design not seen on current Porsche interiors.
Compared to two-tone interiors on current Porsches, the Remastered Sonderwunsch Turbo features a Lipstick Red on black theme that only uses red on the carpet, the seats and centre console, leaving the dash and doors in black which is in contrast to the current two-tone options available on the 911 type 992 model range.
“It’s a new way of doing two-tone on a 992 using a unique mix of fabric, leather and two-tone you don’t see today,” said Gallas.
“We wanted to use this opportunity to promote and highlight what the Exclusive Manufaktur department can do through Sonderwunsch, so we really pushed the boundaries and utilized many unique features that you won’t find on the car configurator including a cross stitching on the upper dash and upper doors, which is all done by hand.”
The seats also utilise the original Turbo lettering theme from the rear badge into the interior with headrest embroidery, and is complemented by period-correct, tone-in-tone piping bordering the leather.
Final touchpoints for the interior include a PDK Gear Selector in aluminium from Exclusive Manufaktur as well as a tailored key that features the chequered tartan pattern in the middle with GT Silver along the sides, which is now a combination that is available for all 911 type 992 keys through Porsche Tequipment.
The current-day 911 Turbo type 992
The Porsche 911 Turbo type 992 needs no introduction with a 3,745 cm3, six-cylinder boxer engine that features symmetrical VTG turbochargers with electrically controlled bypass valves and boasts an output of 427 kW (580 PS) or 30 kW (40 PS) more than its predecessor.
Using an eight-speed PDK gearbox with a Turbo-specific set-up, its acceleration, power and torque figures match those of the previous generation 911 Turbo and achieves a 0-100 km/h time of 2.8 seconds with a top speed of 320km/h.
Icons of Porsche
The region’s coolest gathering for classic cars, art and culture returns for a third year to the 31,000 square metre, ‘The Slab’ at the Dubai Design District on 25-26 November 2023. More than 15,000 people attended last year, making it the largest car festival in the Middle East. This year will include the first public display of the new Panamera, several regional premieres, the Mission X hypercar as part of a supercar showcase, music, art, great food and entertainment for the family under the theme of ‘dream in full colour’.
