since its founding in 2009, singer vehicle design has made its legend primarily with "reimagined" versions of the long-hood 911 made by porsche from 1964 to 1973. now, it's presenting its reinterpretation of another porsche classic: the original 911 turbo, the 930.
typical of singer's restorations, its turbo is based on a 964 chassis—the 911 built from 1989–1994—but gets custom wide carbon-fiber bodywork. the engine is an air-cooled twin-turbo 3.8-liter flat-six with electric wastegates and water-to-air intercoolers mounted in the intake plenums. it makes 450 horsepower as standard, though customers can specify more, and there's a choice between rear- and all-wheel drive. the 930's iconic "shark fin" on the rear fender has been repurposed as an intake to feed cool air into the engine bay. naturally, a six-speed manual is standard.
"i think certainly for folks of my generation, the 930 turbo was the pinup porsche 911 of the era, it was the mythological icon, wasn't it?" singer founder rob dickinson said in an interview with road & track. "it was certainly on my bedroom wall as an impressionable youth in the seventies, and obviously on millions of others as well."
singer is positioning its reimagined 930 as a gt car, just like the original. "porsche launched the turbo as their grand tourer, as their intercontinental, high speed, luxury, top-of-the-range supercar and that's very much how we have reimagined it ourselves," dickinson said. "and with the idea of presenting a car which takes the very essence of the 930 turbo and takes it to its logical conclusion really."
to that end, the car comes standard on a "touring" suspension, though a stiffer "sport" suspension is available as an option. the car also gets a luxurious interior with leather everywhere, wood trim, air conditioning, and heated power seats. despite the luxuries, dickinson said the car shouldn't weigh more than 2800 pounds, and optional carbon-ceramic brakes can help save even more weight. the tires are michelin pilot sport 4ses measuring 245/35r18 in the front and massive 295/30r18s at the back. traction control and abs are also standard to help keep things in control.
there are all sorts of details that reference the original 911 turbo beyond the repurposed shark fins on the rear fenders. the front bumper has three slats that ape the iconic 5-mph impact bumpers of 1974-1989 911s, while the seats are made to look like late-seventies 911 sport seats.
so far, 70 customers have put down deposits for a singer-reimaged 911 turbo, and while prices haven't been announced, expect it to cost well over $500,000.
"this is a big thing for us after 12 years of doing what it is that we do," dickinson said. "it's an important moment for us to present a new idea like this, which is from the well of what we do, in trying to both understand the car that we're celebrating and take it to a logical level, which will be respected by our peers and all the other 911 fans on planet earth. 'can we get this right? can you update the 930 turbo and make it a little bit more applicable for the 21st century?' a fascinating opportunity."
from: road & track