As with Monterey Car Week before it, the Goodwood Festival of Speed is becoming an unofficial auto show hosting debuts on the exceptionally exclusive and expensive side of the market. We saw renderings of Singer Vehicle Design’s new Porsche 911 Turbo Study earlier this month, and now the four-day carfest on the Duke of Richmond and Gordon’s grounds get us way too few pictures of the real thing. Finished in a different customer specification than the model in the renderings, we’re not sure whether we’d rather have the whole car or just the engine.
Assuming we went with the car, that would mean Wolf Blue carbon fiber bodywork in the style of the vintage 930 but built on Singer’s preferred 964-series 911 chassis. It’s powered by a museum-worthy 3.8-liter twin-turbo flat-six with 510 horsepower. The original widowmaker’s 3.3-liter single-turbo flat-six maxed out at 282 horsepower in the U.S., 325 hp in Europe. A six-speed manual sends power to the rear axle through a “touring-optimized suspension.” We’re not sure how much the owner will be inclined to merely tour, but a cabin dolled up in Sand upholstery and Black Forest wood accents is probably a stellar pod for passing the day at elevated velocities.
Two other Porsches come from two other Singer build philosophies: The Sebring Commission as part of the Dynamics & Lightweighting Study (DLS) family worked up with Williams Advanced Engineering; and the Indy Commission for ex-Indy Car driver Dario Franchitti, part of the Classic Study family.
The Sebring Commission sings the praises of the 718 RS 60 Spyder that Hans Hermann and Olivier Gendebien drove to Porsche’s first overall victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1960. The outside goes with classic understatement in RS60 Silver, the interior goes for classic outrage in Candy Apple Red. Although nowhere near as light as that original roadster, a four-liter flat-six that can climb to 9,000 rpm pushes this one along with 500 horsepower sent through a lightweight six-speed transmission with a magnesium housing. There’s more weight lost in the magnesium center-lock wheels and Brembo CCM-R carbon ceramic brakes.
Franchitti’s reimagined Porsche sports carbon fiber bodywork in Dixon Bronze, a 4.0-liter flat-six of unknown power, and forged aluminum wheels in the Fuchs tradition. The interior’s been trimmed in something called “Shug” with cream stitching, as well as carbon fiber track seats.
Anyone strolling Goodwood this weekend can check out the Turbo at the Singer stand in front of the Stable Yard, while the Sebring and Indy commissions make their contributions to the Supercar Paddock.
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Source: www.autoblog.com