The 1990 Porsche is slower than a new 911, but the sheer physicality of the driving experience guarantees entertainment at any speed.Courtesy of manufacturer
A diehard Porsche-head with $300,000 burning a hole in their pocket could buy a brand new Porsche 911 GT3 or any number of oh-so-cool vintage 911s, but the team at Woodbridge, Ont.-based shop Pfaff Tuning would like drivers to consider a third option: Teddy.
Teddy is a 1990 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 (type 964) that the team at Pfaff Tuning have completely restored and upgraded over the course of roughly 300 hours. It looks like an old car, but feels faster and sharper than any standard old 911, plus it comes with a two-year engine warranty for peace of mind.
“[Teddy] is not a huge money-making project. It’s more of a passion thing for us, and, like, just what we love,” said Erik Morrison, the operations manager at Pfaff Tuning. The car cost roughly $120,000 to purchase, and Pfaff spent $80,000 on the engine and $25,000 on new wheels and brakes. “We’re not winning the lottery here; there’s a big build cost,” he said.
Morrison himself is a devout Porsche-head, having owned a type 964 as well. “It’s a cool cruising car. It has the right look, but it’s not an exciting car to drive,” he said.
As is the case with most beloved old sports cars, that old adage “Never meet your heroes,” unfortunately applies to most old 911s. Fans build these cars up into mythical machines in their imaginations only to be let down by the reality.
The somewhat underwhelming performance of most old sports cars explains, at least in part, the rise of eye-wateringly expensive restored and modified vintage cars in recent years. These so-called restomods – by Singer Vehicle Design, Tuthill Porsche, Automobili Amos, Alfaholics, Redux, Kimera Automobili and others – are an attempt to make old cars that live up to the fantasy. These are heroes worth meeting.
Both in terms of price and performance, Pfaff’s build is a far cry from the multimillion-dollar “reimagined” restomods built by the likes of Singer Vehicle Design in the United States and Tuthill Porsche in the U.K.; depending on the model, those builds have totally redesigned carbon fibre bodywork, engines built by Formula 1 specialists Williams, full Dakar-rally suspension, and/or engines that rev to 11,000 rpm.
Pfaff sold the Porsche they called Teddy for $300,000.Courtesy of manufacturer
Pfaff also represents Singer, which also uses type-964 911s as a basis for their builds, but the car built by Pfaff Tuning costs “only” six-figures, not seven.
”We sold [Teddy] last year for $300,000,” Morrison said. “There was tons of interest because it’s a turnkey, modern driving experience without spending 5, 6, 7, or $800,000. There’s lots of guys building Singeresque things. We’re not trying to do that.”
Pfaff says they are working on a second build and will happily make one to your specifications.
Valentin Voinea, the shop foreman at Pfaff Tuning who led the build and put in most of those 300 hours, said that “the goal was to make it a little bit more of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but with a little bit more oomph that the 964 lacked from the factory.”
Sitting in the sun outside the shop, Teddy looks flawless, almost certainly better than it did rolling off the production line in Zuffenhausen 34 years ago. The Porsche sits low on Speedline rims, just as you would have seen on a factory-built Porsche race car in the nineties. The lowered suspension is from Bilstein with slightly stiffer-than-stock H&R springs. The brakes are Brembo items. The original 3.6-litre engine has been enlarged to 3.8 litres, and fitted with Mahle Motorsport pistons and cylinders, and connecting rods from CP Carillo. (For the uninitiated, that’s all top-shelf stuff.) Even the bolts and fasteners have been upgraded for increased yield strength.
“I don’t think anyone else in the country is building cars like this, doing the level of air-cooled [Porsche 911] work that we’re doing,” Morrison said. Seeing the car up close, it’s hard to argue.
Gaze into its pristine cabin and it looks to be in better condition than cars from Porsche’s own Museum collection. The leather feels buttery. A thin and deeply dished Momo steering wheel, wrapped in soft Alcantara, juts out toward the driver. “Porsche” is engraved into the wheel in red lettering.
After letting the engine he built by hand warm up, Voinea handed me the keys. The 3.8-litre mill makes a unexpectedly deep, subbass burble at idle.
Valentin Voinea, the shop foreman at Pfaff Tuning, lead the build and put in most of the 300 hours.Courtesy of manufacturer
Pulling away from a stop, the clutch pedal is sweet – heavy but not-too-heavy – with a fine-grained feel. In stark contrast, the throttle pedal is light and twitchy. Look at it the wrong way and the engine barks and the tachometer needle lunges for the red line as if the motor has no inertia. (There is indeed less inertia compared to the original, thanks to a lightweight flywheel and modified engine internals.) The steering is heavy at low speeds, then gets light around centre when cruising, only to get heavy again in corners.
The engine is surprisingly tractable and torque-rich, pulling smoothly from low rpm in fourth gear on the highway. Despite the ground-hugging stance, the ride is pleasantly compliant too. From the driver’s seat, the car is loud and physical, demanding constant attention without being difficult to drive.
Then, as rain starts to pour, I’m reminded there’s no traction control and only a rudimentary anti-lock braking system. Time to take this precious machine back to the garage.
Even this brief taste was enough to make it obvious this car is more serious, more exciting and more demanding than any standard old 911 I’ve driven. Compared to modern 911s, this is the opposite of the sanitized, calculated perfection of Porsche’s new models. For all of those reasons I suspect this car, and future restomods from Pfaff Tuning, will be worth the high price of admission for diehard enthusiasts looking to get as close as physically possible to the analogue, mechanical reality of driving.
The 1990 Porsche on a hoist at Pfaff Tuning.Courtesy of manufacturer
Tech specs
- Price: $300,000 (approximately)
- Motor: 3.8-litre flat-six, air-cooled
- Transmission: Five-speed manual
- Horsepower / torque (lb-ft): 302 / 269
- Drive: Rear-wheel drive
- Fuel consumption (litres per 100 kilometres): N/A
- Curb weight: 1,360 kilograms (estimated)
- Alternatives: A new Porsche 911 GT3, but it’s not as cool, or a down payment on a Singer commission plus a lottery ticket and some luck, or an investment of 300 hours of your own time to build the vintage 911 of your dreams.
Looks
Better than from the factory. If it were my car, I’d have smaller rims, slightly softer springs with more travel and body roll, maybe a RSR-style rear wing and a more colourful interior. Pfaff Tuning would happily do all that … if I had about $300,000 to spare.
Interior
The inside of a 1990 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 (type-964) completely restored and upgraded by Pfaff Tuning.Courtesy of manufacturer
Cramped and noisy, but you won’t care when you’re driving.
Performance
It’s slower than a new 911, but the sheer physicality of the driving experience guarantees entertainment at any speed.
Technology
It’s got everything you need – Bluetooth, CarPlay and Android Auto – thanks to a vintage-looking infotainment system Porsche makes for its vintage cars.
The original 3.6-litre engine is enlarged to 3.8-litres in the car they call Teddy.Courtesy of manufacturer
Cargo
There’s a front trunk (a “frunk”), but pack lightly.
The verdict
For any level-headed person, it’s absurdly expensive for an old car. For Porsche addicts, however, it offers the best of old and new technology. A bargain compared to a Singer commission and it’s built right here in Canada.
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