To add a modicum of visual pep at their Detroit auto show display, Michelin brought out a pair of the most current Porsche 911s, reconstructed by Singer Car Style, the California workshop founded by former Catherine Wheel frontman Rob Dickinson. If pressed, you may discover one particular C/D staffer willing to admit that a Singer-constructed car is the most gratifying automobile he’s ever driven it is the uncommon sort of machine that cashes the checks that its aesthetics implicitly guarantee. The rest of us are just as content to stare and drool at Dickinson’s interpretation of Butzi Porsche’s vision.
Singer emptied its full bag of tricks into the 964-based automobiles, like Ed Pink–built four.-liter flat-sixes and full Öhlins suspension setups. Of the pair, the red car—known as the London Commission—is the racier of the two, with a pair of carbon-fiber buckets wrapped in blue leather. Regrettably, since the automobile was suspended above the floor, we didn’t get a excellent appear at the interior. The RSR-completed wheels wearing Michelin Pilot competition slicks, nonetheless, have been proper around eye level, and we’ve been known to stare at these longer and a lot more longingly than is most likely acceptable.
The blue car’s interior is what we may possibly deem “rad on rad,” had we a propensity to deem stuff “rad on rad.” Woven leather interiors are nothing new to Singer Automobile Design’s cars—the pattern echoes the classic basketweave material used on early 911s. But lately, they’ve opted to amp it up a notch, making use of colored strips to create patterns. The multicolor 8-bit houndstooth effect is startling, sharp-looking, and completely suitable to the car. Dubbed the Monaco Commission, the blue machine wears Pilot Sport PS2 rubber, and only the driver’s seat is a track-oriented carbon-fiber shell. The passenger luxuriates in a four-way-adjustable energy seat.
Give us a choice between the two, and we’d tear out more than a couple of hairs prior to eventually opting for the blue 1, and that is largely on the strength of its magnificent interior. That stated, we’d be leaving the red car behind, and that feels like far more than a minor travesty.
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