Autofarm Porsche 911 'backdate': Driven
It's easy enough to be a bit sniffy and purist about backdated 911s ... until somebody loans you one
Tiptronic 'GT3' actually more authentic? Discuss...
Saying that I think we can agree where a Tiptronic Carrera masquerading as a GT3 sits along the 'good Porsche, bad Porsche' axis. But if we're going to get all purist about it that car has much more provenance and originality than what you see here. Indeed, if we're going to call out fakery a 1979 SC made up to look like a 'long hood' S/T of the previous decade should by rights attract even more indignation - reference our recent Tell Me I'm Wrong on just this topic.
And yet. Just look at it.
Car originally converted from crashed SC
Easy enough to be elitist from behind a keyboard. Rather more difficult when sharing a brew with the owner and man who oversaw its construction before being given the keys and told "bring it back when you're done, no rush." 10 days later after lots of extended 'errands' (if anyone needs any milk I seem to have bought quite a bit...) and a bit of daily grind commuting the keys are still in my possession and the car will be readied to attend a Sunday Service at the Porsche Centre Silverstone. Has my stance on backdating changed? There's a question. One I'll duck for now by telling the story behind this car.
A 1979 3.0 SC, it was bought by Autofarm after being crashed and with heavy damage to the nearside front wing, windscreen scuttle and A-pillar. We've met Autofarm before on these pages, driving a previous 964-engined backdate and meeting owner Josh Sadler. By now you're probably thinking 'ah, the British Singer!' but while Autofarm project manager Mikey Wastie admits demand for such cars has increased they're more your traditional restoration shop with the ability to pick and choose the best of the 911 back catalogue to build the Porsche of your dreams.
Lio used it as a daily driver in this configuration
Which is exactly what owner Lio di Mascio had them do. From wrecked SC Autofarm built the car into a 2.7 RS lookalike and his initial desire for a 993 C4 S was forgotten the moment he saw it. For nigh-on six years and nearly 35,000 miles it was both his fun car and his daily driver into London before he chopped it in for a second-gen 996 GT3, a move he regretted when he realised the friendliness shown to the old car in cut and thrust traffic was turned on its head in the GT3. That and its licence eating potential saw it last just 18 months in his care before thoughts turned to a 930 Turbo. An inspection on his chosen car revealed hidden horrors just as Josh passed on a tip that Lio's original 911 was coming back onto the market. It was a no-brainer. So to round two.
Clearly of a different mindset, the interim custodian had covered just 4,000 miles but addressed a couple of things Lio had been too busy driving it to attend to. There was still a to-do list though and, as happens, things spiralled and a respray turned into something more extensive and the S/T inspired car you see here. "I didn't want an original, I wanted a car to use," says Lio. And use it he has, the odometer now showing just shy of 150,000 miles and regular runs to Le Mans and roadtrips to Scotland under its belt. If you ever need a case study of an old car thriving on 'correct' usage and maintenance it would seem this 911 is it. Sure, there will have been some fairly big bills along the way. But Lio's logic is having tried a modern 911 and not got on with it he'd rather put the same money into a car perfectly customised to his tastes. No apologies to purists. Just the car he wanted.
Second time around and en route to current look
A bit of geekery though. The engine is, at heart, the SC's original unit bored out to 98mm for a capacity of 3.2 litres. 993 head studs, pressure-fed tensioners and new cams are among Autofarm's tweaks, Weber 40s with K&N filters dealing with fuel and air in while an SSI heat exchanger and single outlet Dansk backbox sort out exhaust and soundtrack. Power? Lio and Mikey exchange looks and shrug. Enough, the emphasis being on longevity and toughness than all-out power with Mikey suggesting something north of 250hp. Chassis-wise the car runs 930 Turbo torsion bars and road spec Bilsteins in the original damper struts, Boxster brakes and 15-inch Fuchs wheels with seven-inch tyres up front and eight-inch items at the rear. A true mix-and-match then but sympathetically done with due deference to maintaining a traditional look and feel. But robust enough to use regularly.
It's no purist recreation, just Lio's ideal 911
The much maligned 915 gearbox (identifiable by reverse being down and to the right rather than up and to the left as it is on the later G50 - I had to look it up) has had the Autofarm treatment too and there's a positivity of gate and engagement to prove the horror stories wrong. First baulks slightly, second is helped by a 'one-and, two-and...' rhythm and tickle of throttle and third slots in nicely, with due deference to letting the shifter navigate the transition into the central plane of its travel in its own time. You wouldn't want to rush it and let the clutch out to find yourself in first again...
3.0 SC now a 3.2 with added Weber goodness
Fit for purpose
Firmly rather than harshly sprung, the thick-rimmed wheel wriggles and writhes about as the tyres sniff out bumps and cambers but instinct takes over and you know when to let it have its way and when to assert some control into the proceedings. The best thing is all this happens at sensible speeds, rather than the three-figure ones that all-too easily appear on the speedos of modern Porsches without even a prickle sweat on your palm. The need to slow it and settle it into a corner before leaning on the traction out of it entirely fits with a fast road style of driving where speed is dictated by knowing what's round the corner, not just how quickly you can take it. At pace it demands concentration, coordination and forward planning but, heck, isn't that what makes driving fun? And at a cruise along the motorway it's reasonably quiet, refined and liveable.
As the car is now, exactly as Lio wanted it
But it's not my car. It's Lio's. Much as one wouldn't pass comment on another man's dress sense or how attractive his wife may be I'm not about to make a value judgement on his car's appearance. But whatever your stance on originality there's no denying it looks absolutely gorgeous and people respond to it with genuine excitement. Final nail in the coffin of any argument against what's been done to this 911 is that an SC wasn't sacrificed in its creation - one that might otherwise have been scrapped has been reborn. If only being proved wrong was always so enjoyable!
A little taste of flat-six noise
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Huge thanks to owner Lio di Mascio and Mikey Wastie at Autofarm - see the car this weekend (October 19) at our Porsche Sunday Service at Silverstone
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