Chopped Porsche 911 widebody Speedster: Aug.24

[Ace-Garageguy]

This is a long-time stalled project, and started out as a design study for a proposal on a 1:1 client car. The plan was to build it from a rough '74 Targa S, but the interested party ran out of money when the false-economy collapsed.

It's more radical than it looks at first glance, with the windshield chopped and laid back a lot. The rear quarters are sectioned, the front of the decklid is laid down and forward, and the hard tonneau is cut down....all to give the tail a little less of the load-in-the-diaper look. The car is dropped the maximum available on the stock-style suspension, with just enough wheel travel left inside the flares to accomodate small bumps and steering angle. We considered bagging it to get this static stance and still be able to lift it a tad for vigorous driving, but the project ended before the engineering had been worked much beyond the what-if stage.

Steel 930 flares are available in 1:1 to rework 911s and the front and rear fascia would have been custom in-house fiberglass, smoothed to recall the clean lines of the 356 Porsches, and to do away with the protruding crash bumpers while losing some weight from the ends of the car. Color was to have been a blue-green pearl, a little bluer and lighter than the spot on the front fender.

Edited August 25, 2013 by Ace-Garageguy

[Brizio]

Looks good! But you need to be a midget to drive it.

[Ace-Garageguy]

you need to be a midget to drive it.

That's pretty funny, Brizio, but in reality, the maximum amount of windshield chop to get this look was determined on a real car, by using much thinner than stock fiberglass racing seats, dropping the seats lower on the floor pan, raking the seat back somewhat, and actually measuring where the driver's head would end up. A 5'10" driver will be looking through the windshield, not over it. It also requires altering the controls significantly, including moving the steering wheel and shift lever back somewhat to accomodate the more formula-car style driving position.

Edited June 21, 2012 by Ace-Garageguy

[Tony T]

That is pretty cool!

[Bernard Kron]

So cool to see a redesign perspective applied to the lines and form of a sportscar. "Customizing" in the older sense of the term. Your comment regarding the interior mods required helps give the project some depth and realism. Go for it in model form...

[3men2s]

Love the stance, for sure is going yo look fearz

[JasonFL]

I really like what your doing with this. I'm not a big fan of these Porsches but man I love this thing. Just sick looking

Edited June 22, 2012 by JasonFL

[Beerman86GT]

I'm pretty sure I like everything you come up with!

[Ace-Garageguy]

Thanks guys. I've been looking at this one more, and if I can just stop from getting carried away with stuff that won't show and finish the bodywork, it should go pretty quick from here.

[Lownslow]

nice work

[Brizio]

That's pretty funny, Brizio, but in reality, the maximum amount of windshield chop to get this look was determined on a real car, by using much thinner than stock fiberglass racing seats, dropping the seats lower on the floor pan, raking the seat back somewhat, and actually measuring where the driver's head would end up. A 5'10" driver will be looking through the windshield, not over it. It also requires altering the controls significantly, including moving the steering wheel and shift lever back somewhat to accomodate the more formula-car style driving position.

Ok good! Because I'm 6'2" and I was always close to the roof! Another good thing about chopping a 911, is that you will still have a great front visibility ( on the real car. ) Not so many sport or lower car offer this.

[hjracing]

Its look like the car Porsche may have to build like the 356 successor.

Cool build I'll keep an eye on this one!

[Ace-Garageguy]

This one is now my experimental nail-polish and other weird-paint test car. Plan is to basecoat with the little far-left bottle, midcoat with the far right color, and finish off with the pearl mixed in lacquer clear, then clear the whole shebang. Minimal body details should make it do-able without obliterating everything, and the door-lines will get re-scribed during the process.

A learning experience.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Bodywork progressing, using up a little extra material from a 1:1 project. Hate to waste stuff....This is a high-build 2K primer I've put on with a roller. It doesn't shrink much, even if you bury the thing in it.

Edited April 10, 2013 by Ace-Garageguy

[IMSANUT]

I like this. I like Porsche's, and I think this is an interesting take on the speedster look. Porsche's own attempt at it in 1:1 was a visual failure in my book, for exactly the reason your design succeeds.....reduced visual weight in the back. Bravo.

[Modlbldr]

Wow! What an idea. Great to see it coming to life. I say keep at it until it's finished (unlike what I do with every project).

Later-

[customsrus]

Looks good Ace. sure make it a bit sleeker.

[Pete J.]

Porsche use to do a shortened windscreen and lay it back a bit. They called them club sports.

I have to say, I like your modifications to get rid of the "load in the diaper" look. Very nice!

[Ace-Garageguy]

Thanks for the feedback everybody.

This is another one stalled because there were a couple of minor issues I had to think through. I was comparing it to the real car and noticed the cut line between the bumper cover and the lower front fender is a slightly different angle on the model. I'll correct it, and also shorten the nose between 1/16 and 1/8 inch to correct a little too much front overhang.

Edited August 25, 2013 by Ace-Garageguy

[GerN]

Kudos on the practical thought behind the attractive design. The extreme lowering makes the wheel openings look awkward to me; maybe close them a bit at the bottom to give vertical lower sides? This should also add to the visual length, accenting the lowering.

[Ace-Garageguy]

The extreme lowering makes the wheel openings look awkward to me; maybe close them a bit at the bottom to give vertical lower sides? This should also add to the visual length, accenting the lowering.

I agree completely, especially in profile. Part of the problem comes from the incorrect wheel-openings on the old Testors 930 shell this model is based on, and it's one reason I decided to hack this one up rather than build a nice stockish 930.

This side-shot of a real 930 shows the difference in angles of the rear of the front wheel-opening, and the front of the rear wheel-opening, as compared to the model. The wheel-openings are more symmetrical in general shape than what is presented by the Testors model, and after I get the shapes pf the front and rear fascias to my liking, I'll address the wheel wells.