Those after something a little different from their air-cooled Porsche 911 are spoilt for choice currently: Everrati will put batteries in and make it look like an RSR; Theon Design will make a Singer-style road racer epic in Oxfordshire; and speaking of which, there remain a whole host of companies in Southern California (think Workshop 5001 and the like) to make retro dreams into reality. Now there’s one more, and it’s possibly the most extreme of the lot. German startup Reengineered Classics (or REEN) have created something called the RS GT Concept; once a standard 964 Carrera, it now has the 3.6-litre, 415hp flat-six from the 997 GT3 RS in its rump. REEN says it’ll ‘maximize driving pleasure on your way to and on your dream road.’
The key to that is going to be REEN Drive modes; familiar from many a new car, but still not often found in classics - even the updated ones. Wheel-mounted selectors can alter the throttle response, sound, drive aid intervention, rev match and steering weight, which feels like quite a novel feature on a build like this. Arguably it would help those used to modern machinery feel more comfortable in a 30-year-old 911.
A seriously fast one, too, let’s not forget, with the Mezger flat-six mated to a custom five-speed close-ratio manual. So there’s going to be plenty to concentrate on. Containing it are bigger Brembo brakes, plus what REEN is currently calling ‘upgraded suspension, bushings and steering’. Given the project has taken five years, and the stance is transformed from a normal 964, evidently quite a lot has gone into it.
Reengineered Classics founder Dr Phillip Hoffman said of the RS GT: “Once you start slipping on the Porsche slippery slope, you fall in love with every detail, and so did I. The RS GT is the story of a creative, grueling, fantastic and goal-focused restoration and development in cooperation with the big names in the automotive supply industry, who have not always taken us completely seriously but certainly supported us with unique solutions.” They’ll probably be taken a little more seriously now, particularly with REEN Drive Control patented and TUV-approved.
Though what Reengineered Classics has set out to do - ‘united old and new, classic and modern, digital and analogue, to celebrate driving emotions’ - could come from any restomod playbook, there’s something intriguing about that much power in a 964 and some very sophisticated electronics to make the most of it.
What an RS GT might cost to produce remains another matter, of course, though investing years of hard work into a valuable classic Porsche won’t come cheap. Neither will a GT3 RS engine. Still, demand for restomodded Porsches shows no signs of calming down - don’t be surprised if a couple of 964 lovers want something a little different to the rest.
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