Gunther Werks GWR takes 993 to 9,000rpm

Gunther Werks already makes a glorious 993 restomod - now it's time to go extreme

By Matt Bird / Friday, 23 August 2024 / Loading comments

Back in 2017, Gunther Werks CEO Peter Nam suggested to PH that his company’s 400R was how he imagined a 993 GT3 might have been had Porsche made one back then. And it was as good as that promise: “Driving it is an immersive, sensation-rich experience that's utterly contemporary in its performance, but retrospective in its engagement” gushed the PH verdict.

Now, having dabbled with turbocharged and Speedster models, GW is returning to the humble nat-asp 993 Coupe with all the experience it has built up along the way. And, by the sounds of it, making something even more extraordinary in the process.

Revealed last weekend, this is the GWR - and if a standard two-door was meant to be like a GT3 then this must be something like an R or S/T. It’s lighter than ever, with carbon doors on a Gunther Werks car for the first time alongside the carbon body, which itself gets a completely new look for best aero performance. Note the double bubble roof, air curtains for the front wheels and a very serious rear diffuser. The suggested kerbweight is 2,400lb, or just 1,088kg, with torsional rigidity up 150 per cent over a donor 993 thanks to extra bracing.

This ought to make more than 500hp from the 4.0-litre flat-six feel fast enough. That’s been achieved through changes to the throttle body and intake manifold, with additional titanium also used to get the internals moving even quicker. If it can be improved, Gunther Werks tends to do it, so in the titanium goes.

Chassis wise the GWR now has double wishbone front suspension like a 992 GT3 (and lots of other cars that aren’t 911s), a 30mm longer wheelbase than standard and magnesium wheels to save precious unsprung kilos. Comfort, Standard and Track modes should calm the experience down or ramp it up as required.

Gunther Werks intends to make just 40 examples - and when you consider that it planned to make 75 Project Tornado turbo cars, this really will be a rare beast. As is reimagination tradition, the customer will always be right in matters of taste, meaning the personalisation possibilities are endless. Gunther Werks says this car will be ‘as communicative as it is beautiful, delivering all the passion of analog driving, with all the advantages of modern technology’. Which does sound like a fairly persuasive array of talent for your million pounds or so. As with so much seen in California over the past couple of weeks. Would it be your perfected Porsche of choice?