Harry's Garage - YouTube

[Speed 3]

I don't know why many posters are being uber-critical of bespoke option decisions by the buyer.

Don't like the noise - spec a quieter exhaust (most of the reason for loud is the -200kg lightness without sound deadening)
Don't like the 6-speed, spec the 5 (although given these are Porsche RS boxes I don't see why a bit of adjustment wouldn't make it behave exactly like the one in the RS)
Don't like the oil filter cover - don't ask for it or throw it away
Don't like the steering wheel - spec a different one

Stuff that doesn't work at the PDI - get them to fix it. 2manycars had a fluid leak on this £2M+ Singer DLS when he collected it.

The bulk of the cost is in the manhours and engineering in sensible stuff like the engine electronics in the front boot. Suspension, gearbox, trim, wheels, colour are all choices, same as at an OPC.

[2 GKC]

DuncanM said:

Never mind the leather oil filter cover, I note that "the 911" is now "911".

How many others on here, struggle with the anthropomorphism of inanimate objects?

Irritates me too. He does it with all models.

[DuncanM]

2 GKC said:

Irritates me too. He does it with all models.

It's quite a recent thing I think? If Harry's reading, please stop it!

[RichB]

2 GKC said:

DuncanM said:

Never mind the leather oil filter cover, I note that "the 911" is now "911".
How many others on here, struggle with the anthropomorphism of inanimate objects?

Irritates me too. He does it with all models.

It's wrong and not at all cool, which they most likely think it is. There's a piece in Octane last month about this by Stephen Bayley, basically saying it's a load of goatie bearded, marketing nonsense. I am surprised Harry has fallen into the trap.

[LM240]

DonkeyApple said:

WPA said:

As someone pointed out earlier in the thread you can get a black oil filter, makes more sense than a leather cover.

So if an owner is utterly offended by the existence of leather close to their engine they can just ask for a black oil filter instead? That would imply that this is not a crippling issue that would break the deal?

Exactly. So what!

If it bothers someone that much with their bespoke 911, ask not to have the cover!

[2 GKC]

DuncanM said:

It's quite a recent thing I think? If Harry's reading, please stop it!

Been doing it years on his videos

[thegreenhell]

E90_M3Ross said:

What exactly are they suing them for!? Modifying someone's car?!

I believe it's to protect their copyright. You see these cars everywhere referred to as Singers or Theons or whatever, when in fact they are not. They are simply Porsche 911s that have been modified by a random third party. Singer have recently updated the legal disclaimer on their website to the effect that they do not, and you should not, ever refer to the car as anything other than a Porsche, and they are only modifying them at the customer's request. Singer is not a manufacturer, and thus you shouldn't use their name on a product originally designed and manufactured by Porsche.

Quite rightly I think, too. If you took your car to Fred's bodyshop down the road and had him repaint the car and fit some wheels that are too big for it, you wouldn't start calling it the Fred Retrowk Classic.

[DonkeyApple]

DuncanM said:

Never mind the leather oil filter cover, I note that "the 911" is now "911".

How many others on here, struggle with the anthropomorphism of inanimate objects?

It's pure poncery. And sad to see intelligent adults succumbing to such buttpluggery.

[Leithen]

If I had the money for a restomod, built by someone else (full respect if it is DIY), I'm afraid I'd rather buy a really good version of the original, and a few other originals.

The existence of Singer's and Alfaholics' ultimate creations are something to delight in, but for me it is a thing that at some point just goes too far?

[outnumbered]

2 GKC said:

DuncanM said:

Never mind the leather oil filter cover, I note that "the 911" is now "911".

How many others on here, struggle with the anthropomorphism of inanimate objects?

Irritates me too. He does it with all models.

He's spent a long time in the industry talking with designers/marketeers, so it probably sounds normal to him, no matter how annoying it is for the rest of us.

Mind you, I don't ever remember Harris doing it, so it must be an avoidable trope despite high exposure to people wearing black clothing.

(Just off the the shops in Up!)

[PurpleTurtle]

I loved the noise, the performance and the looks of the Theon, but the price is just insane for mere mortals.

The kind of buyer for this is so wealthy that I guess money is really no object, it reminds me of the 'I saw you coming' Notting Hill shopkeeper in Harry Enfield and Chums!

Personally if I had £750k to drop on a 911 I'd get a nicely sorted 964 Carrera RS and splash the rest on several other great cars, but I guess if you are operating at this end of the market you probably already own those kind of playthings. The Theon is just another addition which, due to scarcity, is unlikely to lose much in value, albeit in a market where there are very few players.

[thegreenhell]

You could get an original 2.7 RS and a 964 RS for the price of one of these.

[PinkHouse]

RichB said:

2 GKC said:

DuncanM said:

Never mind the leather oil filter cover, I note that "the 911" is now "911".
How many others on here, struggle with the anthropomorphism of inanimate objects?

Irritates me too. He does it with all models.

It's wrong and not at all cool, which they most likely think it is. There's a piece in Octane last month about this by Stephen Bayley, basically saying it's a load of goatie bearded, marketing nonsense. I am surprised Harry has fallen into the trap.

It really reached fever pitch with all the Gordon Murray videos which became unbearable as all the journalists essentially treated him like a living deity

[thegreenhell]

PurpleTurtle said:

I loved the noise, the performance and the looks of the Theon, but the price is just insane for mere mortals.

The kind of buyer for this is so wealthy that I guess money is really no object, it reminds me of the 'I saw you coming' Notting Hill shopkeeper in Harry Enfield and Chums!

Personally if I had £750k to drop on a 911 I'd get a nicely sorted 964 Carrera RS and splash the rest on several other great cars, but I guess if you are operating at this end of the market you probably already own those kind of playthings. The Theon is just another addition which, due to scarcity, is unlikely to lose much in value, albeit in a market where there are very few players.

I'm not sure about resale value. I've only seen one come up, as they've built so few, and it didn't do particularly well

https://collectingcars.com/for-sale/1989-porsche-9...

[DonkeyApple]

outnumbered said:

2 GKC said:

DuncanM said:

Never mind the leather oil filter cover, I note that "the 911" is now "911".

How many others on here, struggle with the anthropomorphism of inanimate objects?

Irritates me too. He does it with all models.

He's spent a long time in the industry talking with designers/marketeers, so it probably sounds normal to him, no matter how annoying it is for the rest of us.

Mind you, I don't ever remember Harris doing it, so it must be an avoidable trope despite high exposure to people wearing black clothing.

(Just off the the shops in Up!)

It's always been something that has floated around the periphery, usually well behind the tttery of 'numbers matching' but it is in recent years it has broken free of the enclosed environment of the polo necked ponce and been rapidly and wildly adopted by those who write and speak about the creations. It is a depressing turn of phrase and in reality rather sad. They are cars. They will always be cars and to change the grammar to imply that they are emotions, lifestyles, sentient or living creatures is banal. As highlighted in many videos when they forget to do so and revert to normality by accident. Even the PR plonkers keep forgetting as occurred in one of the more recent videos, if I recall, regarding an Aston.

Anyway, I must go and fire up Quattro. Whatever the fk that means.

[cerb4.5lee]

suffolk009 said:

DonkeyApple said:

Pistom said:

Speed 3 said:

Not getting the angst for the oil filter cover.

It's often the details which make something very right or very wrong.

Indeed but it seemed perfectly logical to me. I think people are distressed because leather is often sold as product to announce someone as being a superior human. So punters are pitched not just leather coverings on their seats to confirm their greatness as a human but then often on top of that an even more superior type of leather just to remind them that normal leather punters are still scum and that only by renting a special and magical type of leather for three years at junk credit rates can they truly start to lord it over the sort of sub humans who live in an identical property adjacent.

However, back in the real world away from the shopping princesses, leather is a useful medium for its practicality from its properties. Hence why it was used on exterior seating, for luggage, tool bags and all its historical uses. Many of which remain valid today.

The look of the engine bay of this car is clearly created to be part of the owner experience and if the oil filter jars visually due to its positioning and colour then sticking a cover over it is a quick, easy and cheap solution. No point in painting it as you'll just have to paint the next one. Plastic covers require a lot of thought re materials, the fixing mechanism and will inevitably break. But you have a seamstress who can knock out a cover in left over cow bits in seconds, the skin is heat resistant, water resistant, perfectly flexible so can be made fractionally too small for easy friction fitting.

Some people may only see leather as an upsell for consumer tat and by god we're used to seeing it used as such and for lifting cash from punters who want LEDs and screens everywhere but in this case is it not the cheapest, easiest and best solution for covering an ugly orange thing that spoils the space? They ought to make one for Donald Trump.

It's odd how leather seats have become the default expensive option. If you look at something like an old Rollls Royce sedanca (like Golfinger's), the chauffeur sat up front without a roof and on practical leather seats, whilst the rich owner sat in the back warm and on some very comfortable cloth.

I always find leather seats an interesting one as well. When I was growing up the top of the range cars got leather seats, whereas the bottom of the range cars got cloth seats for example.

I have a personal preference towards leather seats in cars, however they are a bit of a pain though, because they're boiling hot to sit on in the summer, and then freezing cold to sit on in the winter. So arguably cloth is much better really.

[NDA]

PinkHouse said:

It really reached fever pitch with all the Gordon Murray videos which became unbearable as all the journalists essentially treated him like a living deity

As an aside, I go to a couple of events a year which Gordon Murray also attends. He thinks he knows me and is always very friendly and says hello. When I'm with others they always comment 'golly, you KNOW Gordon Murray?!' - I have started to lie in a sheepish way.

[NomduJour]

Leather upfront and cloth in the back is the traditional way for limousines.

Think they’ve missed a trick by stopping at the oil filter, though.

[W124]

NDA said:

W124 said:

Reminds of relic guitars and all that. But it’s quite something.

My thinking too. It's a recreation of something that never existed - although there's no doubt it's beautifully done.

I'd have an original - warts and all.

I’ve thought about it. And I think that phrase sums it up. ‘A recreation of something that never existed’

It’s philosophically bankrupt. The absolute apogee of the rank insanity of the modern world.

Also, dragons don’t have dens, they have lairs. And for that reason, I’m out.

[DonkeyApple]

NomduJour said:

Leather upfront and cloth in the back is the traditional way for limousines.

Think they’ve missed a trick by stopping at the oil filter, though.

Nice. Really needs a few Swarovskis in there.