Porsche 911 by Theon Design 2022 review

The Oxford English Dictionary grows by several thousand words every year. Recent entries include ‘sportswashing’ and ‘sharenting’, but the term ‘restomod’ (also a portmanteau, word fans) has yet to gain OED recognition. Frankly, it’s time that changed.

Splicing together ‘restored’ and ‘modified’, a restomod is a classic car with a modern twist. Perhaps it’s the rise of white-goods EVs, or the fact that many of today’s fast cars feel a bit desensitised, certainly at legal speeds, but hardly a week goes by without another restomod being revealed. 

The Porsche 911 ‘reimagined by Singer’ epitomises this new breed. It’s functional yet still beautifully bespoke. Theon Design’s restomod follows a similar template: start with a (1989-1993) 964 Carrera, ‘backdate’ it with retro styling, then dial up the performance. However, the end result is unique and, for £380,000 upwards, just as sell-a-kidney desirable.

I like the way you mauve

This car’s soon-to-be owner is a Chilean blueberry farmer: hence the playfully purple theme. Its Viola Metallic hue is the same colour used for the 911 ‘30 Jahre’ Anniversary edition in 1993, and pops like a squashed blueberry when it catches the sunlight.

Inside, the swathes of patinated purple leather are like something Porsche’s Sonderwunsch (special wishes) department might have concocted in the same era. 

At Theon Design’s brand new facility near Silverstone, one of the works-in-progress is a luxurious 911 grand tourer with a supercharged engine. The brief for ‘Chile 001’ was very different, explains company founder Adam Hawley: “The customer basically wanted a weekend beast”.

With a 400hp naturally aspirated flat-six and just 1,164kg to shift, it promises to feel anything but desensitised.

A plum job

Lifting the engine lid exposes the 4.0-litre motor in all its naked glory. Plastic parts are banished and unsightly wires are hidden away, while the power steering and air-con have moved to the front boot (also improving weight distribution).

Six Jenvey throttle bodies with crackle-coated trumpets sit atop a carbon fibre shroud, the 911’s air-cooling fan still proudly front-and-centre. This is engineering elevated to an art form. 

Perfectly stanced on three-piece Fikse alloys (replicas of the iconic Fuchs wheels) the Porsche rides 10mm lower than a 964 Carrera RS. Racing-style Tractive adjustable dampers offer five settings for stiffness, adjusted via a dial on the centre console, with a Wavetrac limited-slip diff to boost traction. All body panels are carbon fibre except for the steel doors, which are retained for crash protection.

Violence in violet

Sat facing a trad-911 five-dial dashboard, Chile 001 doesn’t feel nearly so contemporary. Infotainment (yep, another portmanteau) is limited to a magnetic phone holder and a Bluetooth-operated Focal audio system.

No matter: twist the key and the engine’s throbbing, insistent idle demands all of your attention. It sounds like a beast alright.

Despite its single-mass flywheel and lofty 8500rpm limiter, the 911 feels impressively docile in traffic. Find an open road, though, and it lets rip with furious, hedonistic zeal. Throttle response is synaptic, the six-speed manual gearbox – adapted from a 993 Turbo – is light and tactile, and the Surface Transform carbon brakes are powerful and progressive. 

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Yet Chile 001’s chassis is the biggest leap forward. Its semi-active suspension feels keyed into the road, offering a precise and supple control way beyond any original 964.

Granted, this is still a powerful rear-drive machine with no electronic safety net, so you need to plan and manage your inputs carefully. But that added frisson of excitement, and sense of connection, is a major reason to own a car like this. If you want ultimate fire-and-forget performance, just buy a 992 Turbo S. 

Hawley says “The analogue driving experience will only become more appealing as time goes on,” and it’s hard to disagree. It might not be an official word yet, but the restomod is surely here to stay. 

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