2023 Singer DLS Turbo

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Antarctica
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ProjectWHaT
After the original Dynamics and Lightweighting Study and Turbo Study, we now have the Dynamics and Lightweight Study Turbo


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The cars evoke the 934/5's bold styling. New carbon fiber bodywork includes the wide fenders, big rear intakes, NACA ducts, and the big spoiler which is adjustable for legit track use. A massive splitter further enhances aero bite for track use, and Singer actually refers to this configuration as the track-focused version. It's the orange 911 featured here in the photos, and it clearly draws inspiration from the 935 portion of the 934/5.

For customers seeking something a bit less aggressive, Singer offers a road-focused version (shown below in gold, or specifically, Moet Blanc) that nixes the adjustable wing for a classic ducktail spoiler at the back, and a relaxed splitter at the front. And for those who cannot decide which version to choose, Singer will build a single 964 that can accommodate both styles. Drive the ducktail through the week, swap over the adjustable wing and big splitter, and party hard on the weekend.

Whether you opt for wild or wilder styling, all versions get a Singer-designed 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged six-pot with air-to-water intercooling, capable of making over 700 horsepower and spinning past 9,000 RPM.

A six-speed manual gearbox sends that power to just the rear wheels, and an upgraded suspension with bespoke dampers helps keep the power under control. Ceramic brakes are mounted behind staggered centerlock wheels measuring 19 inches in front and 20 at the rear. Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires provide the grip.
 
Seeing Singer rebuild air cooled 911s to such a level has got me thinking, would there be an untapped market here with some other classics? Imagine a Countach given this level of care and correction for example.
 
Seeing Singer rebuild air cooled 911s to such a level has got me thinking, would there be an untapped market here with some other classics? Imagine a Countach given this level of care and correction for example.
There are others. Alfaholics does Alfa Romeos in a similar fashion and there have been a few others. Singer is definitely not the only one out there.
 
Seeing Singer rebuild air cooled 911s to such a level has got me thinking, would there be an untapped market here with some other classics? Imagine a Countach given this level of care and correction for example.
Seems like Lancia, Land Rover & Alfa Romeo projects are becoming more popular, but I certainly would entertain a Countach Evoluzione tribute.
 
Seems like Lancia, Land Rover & Alfa Romeo projects are becoming more popular, but I certainly would entertain a Countach Evoluzione tribute.
I think we need to understand how uniquely suited the 964 is for resto-modding in the way that Singer does them:
-They are expensive, but not obscenely so
-They are relatively common
-They are on basically the same platform as the older 911s and can be backdated to resemble them
-Despite the previous point, they are still reasonably modern
-They can draw on a long, long lineage of Porsche racing history and vast culture around modifying them
-They are not sacred

Not a lot of other cars provide such a compelling case for restomodding as the 964 does, even if you did them to the same exceptional level that Singer does. The 911 is just so elemental. Rarer classics like a Countach are not a good fit, IMO, because they are a bit sacred and extremely expensive to start with. I think some good candidates for resto mod in the same vein as Singer might be:

C3 Corvette
Jaguar XJS
Jaguar XJ (X308)
Jeep Cherokee (XJ)
Ford Crown Vic (seriously)
 
Seeing Singer rebuild air cooled 911s to such a level has got me thinking, would there be an untapped market here with some other classics? Imagine a Countach given this level of care and correction for example.
Would completely destroy that particular car's value, esp. at a time where their values are on the up.
 
The rear fenders are a bit overkill! Looking at how far they stick out from the door of the car, I have a feeling they would get scratched a whole lot just by getting in and out of the car....also any tiny rocks or whatever get thrown from the front tires will just hit the back fenders too....If it were mine I feel like I'd always be stressing out about that when driving the car.
 
I think we need to understand how uniquely suited the 964 is for resto-modding in the way that Singer does them:
-They are expensive, but not obscenely so
-They are relatively common
-They are on basically the same platform as the older 911s and can be backdated to resemble them
-Despite the previous point, they are still reasonably modern
-They can draw on a long, long lineage of Porsche racing history and vast culture around modifying them
-They are not sacred

Not a lot of other cars provide such a compelling case for restomodding as the 964 does, even if you did them to the same exceptional level that Singer does. The 911 is just so elemental. Rarer classics like a Countach are not a good fit, IMO, because they are a bit sacred and extremely expensive to start with. I think some good candidates for resto mod in the same vein as Singer might be:

C3 Corvette
Jaguar XJS
Jaguar XJ (X308)
Jeep Cherokee (XJ)
Ford Crown Vic (seriously)
I do suspect the 964 will become popular for these kinds of restomods if anyone ever starts getting on people's cases for modifying old 911s. The XJS, given how accessible they are and how crazy people have become over the V12-manual combo, could make for some really neat projects. Another car I was thinking of was the Viper RT/10.
 
I do suspect the 964 will become popular for these kinds of restomods if anyone ever starts getting on people's cases for modifying old 911s. The XJS, given how accessible they are and how crazy people have become over the V12-manual combo, could make for some really neat projects. Another car I was thinking of was the Viper RT/10.
Every Singer is already a 964, at least as far as I'm aware.
 
I know the Countach was an extreme example. The C3/C4 Corvette, and maybe the various G body, F body and Fox Ford variants would be the best choices from America at least.
 
I think the problem with the idea of applying it to other models is that the closest analog from a classic 911 -> 964 conceptually is probably the Fox Body. Late model C3s, for example, are not really appreciably better than a twenty year older C2 it shares most of its bones with, and certainly not anything approaching a modern car like a 964 is vs a chrome bumper 911, so your basis to work backwards is limited. I don't know on a pure "We can take this new thing and put it in this old thing without much hassle" actually applies to an XK8 (or DB7, though certainly no one would be hacking up one of those for this purpose) vs an XJS; and while I'm sure an X308 -> XJ40 swap of mechanicals and interior would likely be easy enough that you could probably scale production of such (like it's pretty blatant that all of the hardpoints on the interior are the same for both) in that case both the source car and the donor car would be so cheap and the XJ40 is so undesirable that why not just buy an X308 and... you're there. That also applies a lot to the C4 (just go buy a ZR-1 or Callaway) and G-Bodies (just go buy a Grand National or Monte Carlo SS) as well.






That leaves the Fox Body, I think. I can in that case see enough similarities in the evolution from chrome bumper 911/early Fox Body (be it a Fairmont, LTD, Granada, Thunderbird, Cougar, Continental or Mustang) to 964/New Edge Mustang that I think a company could legitimately give a go at building such things. They'd have to scale their boutiqueness down from Singer's for sure, but dropping in ATS brakes and IRS SVT Cobra subframes and Coyote/EcoBoost motors from Mustangs that people crashed at Cars and Coffee events into any number of the millions of clean but unremarkable 4 cylinder Mustangs or V6 Cougars is something I could actually see a business case for.

With F-Bodies the 3rd gen cars are similarly in vogue right now and similarly share a ton with the ones GM sold through the 2000s and similarly also have tons of undesirable skinflint poseur 4 cylinder slushbox cars that you could use as a basis for such a thing, so I can it there too.




The main problem in those cases though would be Singer can sell there cars anywhere, whereas you'd need to figure out how to sell restomod Fox Bodies or F-Bodies in California and the interest abroad would be nonexistent.
 
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I think the problem with the idea of applying it to other models is that the closest analog from a classic 911 -> 964 conceptually is probably the Fox Body. Late model C3s, for example, are not really appreciably better than a twenty year older C2 it shares most of its bones with, and certainly not anything approaching a modern car like a 964 is vs a chrome bumper 911, so your basis to work backwards is limited. I don't know on a pure "We can take this new thing and put it in this old thing without much hassle" actually applies to an XK8 (or DB7, though certainly no one would be hacking up one of those for this purpose) vs an XJS; and while I'm sure an X308 -> XJ40 swap of mechanicals and interior would likely be easy enough that you could probably scale production of such (like it's pretty blatant that all of the hardpoints on the interior are the same for both) in that case both the source car and the donor car would be so cheap and the XJ40 is so undesirable that why not just buy an X308 and... you're there. That also applies a lot to the C4 (just go buy a ZR-1 or Callaway) and G-Bodies (just go buy a Grand National or Monte Carlo SS) as well.






That leaves the Fox Body, I think. I can in that case see enough similarities in the evolution from chrome bumper 911/early Fox Body (be it a Fairmont, LTD, Granada, Thunderbird, Cougar, Continental or Mustang) to 964/New Edge Mustang that I think a company could legitimately give a go at building such things. They'd have to scale their boutiqueness down from Singer's for sure, but dropping in ATS brakes and IRS SVT Cobra subframes and Coyote/EcoBoost motors from Mustangs that people crashed at Cars and Coffee events into any number of the millions of clean but unremarkable 4 cylinder Mustangs or V6 Cougars is something I could actually see a business case for.

With F-Bodies the 3rd gen cars are similarly in vogue right now and similarly share a ton with the ones GM sold through the 2000s and similarly also have tons of undesirable skinflint poseur 4 cylinder slushbox cars that you could use as a basis for such a thing, so I can it there too.




The main problem in those cases though would be Singer can sell there cars anywhere, whereas you'd need to figure out how to sell restomod Fox Bodies or F-Bodies in California and the interest abroad would be nonexistent.
The problem with the Mustang & Camaro is that the margins just aren't there for it to be a worthwhile, dedicated business. Singers often sell for over $1m. Even the most die-hard Foxbody Mustang fan isn't going to pay more than $100k for a rest-modded example*. But I generally agree with your argument. The Singer 911 is, as I noted earlier, a unique product and business model that would be very hard to replicate. I could actually see a backdated Lotus Esprit working - except people tend to prefer the styling of the later cars AND they never achieved the kind of popular appeal of something like a 911. The Defender has been done to moderate success with Icon and the Jaguar E Type with the Eagle.

One interesting idea might be to use the Ford Raptor chassis with older F100 or Bronco bodies

*Don't you dare point back to my post featuring a Crown Vic and Jeep Cherokee neither of which anyone would pay more than $15k for no matter how much had been invested into them, as a counterargument!
 
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One interesting idea might be to use the Ford Raptor chassis with older F100 or Bronco bodies
Icon4x4 is already doing exactly that



Here's some of their most recent builds:





 
Icon4x4 is already doing exactly that



Here's some of their most recent builds:






Yeah, Icon is the closest one out there to Singer, IMO. Good stuff. That Chevy is awesome.

edit: Holy moly, the Chevy starts at almost $300k 😵
 
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Y'all got the wrong idea. E30 is the next big restomod thingie.
 
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The orange one with the turbofans is so rad. I notice the front bumper area is also different than the wingless car. More like the 935. It's a good look.
 
I think the problem with the idea of applying it to other models is that the closest analog from a classic 911 -> 964 conceptually is probably the Fox Body. Late model C3s, for example, are not really appreciably better than a twenty year older C2 it shares most of its bones with, and certainly not anything approaching a modern car like a 964 is vs a chrome bumper 911, so your basis to work backwards is limited. I don't know on a pure "We can take this new thing and put it in this old thing without much hassle" actually applies to an XK8 (or DB7, though certainly no one would be hacking up one of those for this purpose) vs an XJS; and while I'm sure an X308 -> XJ40 swap of mechanicals and interior would likely be easy enough that you could probably scale production of such (like it's pretty blatant that all of the hardpoints on the interior are the same for both) in that case both the source car and the donor car would be so cheap and the XJ40 is so undesirable that why not just buy an X308 and... you're there. That also applies a lot to the C4 (just go buy a ZR-1 or Callaway) and G-Bodies (just go buy a Grand National or Monte Carlo SS) as well.






That leaves the Fox Body, I think. I can in that case see enough similarities in the evolution from chrome bumper 911/early Fox Body (be it a Fairmont, LTD, Granada, Thunderbird, Cougar, Continental or Mustang) to 964/New Edge Mustang that I think a company could legitimately give a go at building such things. They'd have to scale their boutiqueness down from Singer's for sure, but dropping in ATS brakes and IRS SVT Cobra subframes and Coyote/EcoBoost motors from Mustangs that people crashed at Cars and Coffee events into any number of the millions of clean but unremarkable 4 cylinder Mustangs or V6 Cougars is something I could actually see a business case for.

With F-Bodies the 3rd gen cars are similarly in vogue right now and similarly share a ton with the ones GM sold through the 2000s and similarly also have tons of undesirable skinflint poseur 4 cylinder slushbox cars that you could use as a basis for such a thing, so I can it there too.




The main problem in those cases though would be Singer can sell there cars anywhere, whereas you'd need to figure out how to sell restomod Fox Bodies or F-Bodies in California and the interest abroad would be nonexistent.
Going back to this...an X308 with a DB7/DB9 V12 would be totally amazing and plausibly canon to boot - like an alternate history where SVO existed back in 2003 and decided to send off the old girl with a limited run XJR-R.
 
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