To be honest, driving an old vintage car is a tough experience, but a beautiful one! It is a pity there are so many car collectors who only see in a vintage car an investment, but there are still some enthusiasts out there driving their cars from the sixties, seventies and early eighties in everyday life. Because these cars are unadulterated.

There is no simulated improved driving physics through the magic of numerous assistance systems like electronic stability control, adaptive shocks or brake assistance to get rid of the biggest error source: the driver! Even the daily ride with an old car is like time travel – even when it’s only in your thoughts to your youth!

A special fascination emanates from the old, air-cooled Porsche models. They were among the technical milestones at the time. Compared to the sports car Goliaths from Great Britain and Italy at that time, Porsche was the proverbial David, who emerged from the ruins of post-war Germany to triumph not only in motorsport. The first victory at the endurance classic of Le Mans in the early fifties with the Porsche 356 was unforgettable.

The successor, Porsche 911, was also shone at rallies and on the circuit. But before Porsche 911 RS and RSR became a motorsport myth, the Porsche 911 S/T 2.5 was the proverbial ancestor of today’s Porsche customer motorsport racing cars. Unfortunately, it is no longer quite clear how many were produced for the competition in the 1971 and 1972 model years. Some speak of very few examples.

We are talking about only two dozen sports cars built for the then Group 3 and Group 4, which were driven with 270 hp 2.5-liter six-cylinder boxer engines in hill climbs and on the racetrack. In meticulous handwork, a driving homage to the 911 S/T was created in recent months at dp Motorsport at the request of the customer. In combination with the interior and exterior paintwork in “GT Silver Metallic” (LM7Z) of the Porsche Carrera GT, type 980 and the matt black design foil, this is a beautiful 911.

Generations of Velocity

While in the case of the so-called “Restomod” and “Backdate” Porsches, the view quickly migrates to North America. Air-cooled Porsche enthusiasts have known for years that between Flensburg and Garmisch-Patenkirchen, Frankfurt / Oder and Overath-Immekeppel in Germany, the expertise on the Porsche 911 is one of the highest, even without a great deal of “Marketing blablabla”.

Behind the small and medium-sized Porsche workshops in the north, south, east, and west of the Federal Republic of Germany are real passionate experts. So, it is no wonder that even Magnus Walker consults one or two Porsche specialists in this country or even imports modified and finetuned engines from Germany to the US.

Behind this Porsche 911 with stylistic bonds to the S/T is dp Motorsport. Patrick Zimmermann, son of Ekkehard Zimmermann, co-creator of many legendary Porsche racing cars in the seventies and eighties, such as the Porsche 935 K3 from Kremer Racing, built this air-cooled classic at the request of his customer.

In recent years, dp Motorsport has produced numerous unique Porsche models and the family business has transformed many Porsche 964 into an “F body” – the original 911. Actually, this Restomod is a Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 from 1985, in “Porsche vernacular” a Porsche 911 G-body.

“It was not our intention to realize a recreation of the Porsche 911 S/T that is one hundred percent true to the original,” Patrick Zimmermann summarizes in his press release. “Rather, we wanted a stylish sports car with a considerable fun factor.”

It goes without saying that the Porsche was of course completely rebuilt from scratch. Even all cables of the electronics, which are rudimentary today, were renewed.

This is also the reason why Zimmermann and his men helped themselves to the question of the “right” air-cooled boxer engine for the Porsche 964. The 3.6-liter boxer with its dry-sump lubrication increased to 290 hp at dp Motorsport and mobilizes a maximum torque of 324 Nm. All this without a grasp in the bag of tricks, but through honest, mechanical craftsmanship.

Due to the sporty exhaust system, with one fan manifold per cylinder side, heat exchangers and a conventional heating system in the Porsche had to be dispensed with.

Modern driving dynamics, thanks to modern engineering

For the air-cooled Porsche 911, especially for the G-body produced from 1973 to 1989, we at KW have developed a large number of different suspension and damper applications.

In addition to the KW Variant 3 damper set shown above (separately adjustable in compression and rebound) as a ready-to-install complete solution including forged steering knuckles (spindles) for the standard torsion bars; trackday hardware is also available for the classic Porsche 911.

The KW Clubsport 2-way Coilover suspension kit for the Porsche 911 (G-body) also has front axle dampers with forged steering knuckles, but there are more differences. On the front axle, for example, we use monotube dampers in “upside-down” design (inverted monotube) and linear racing springs as well as aluminum unibal top mounts. The rear axle spring struts, on the other hand, are made of aluminum and KW twin-tube dampers are used there again.

dp Motorsport chose to use our KW Clubsport suspension. After all, the customer is a passionate track day driver who is also active as a race driver in the Endurance Championship on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. The brake system, by the way, comes from the 935. All the front axle control arms are installed with polyurethane bushings and unibal rod ends are a matter of course in a Clubsport conversion…

We at KW don’t really make a big religion about whether we build dampers according to the monotube, twin-tube, three-tube or even our newly developed solid piston technology. For years we have been using the technology that is the best for our customers.

If something does not yet exist, we develop something new. So, it is no wonder that we have developed more than 16 different damper technologies in the past years and more than 30 colleagues are working every day in research and development in our German headquarters.

And what is the effect of a modern KW suspension in an old, air-cooled Porsche 911? That is quickly explained. Your classic car will be a good 30 or 40 years more modern in terms of driving dynamics without losing its character. Anyone who has ever driven a Porsche 911 (F-model) or a Porsche 930 with our KW Classic suspensions knows what we are talking about.

Even the 911 built by dp Motorsport did not lose its character. The interior consistently picks up the lightweight construction concept: The “lollipop bucket seats” car dominate the passenger compartment; they provide lateral support as once in the Porsche 935 turbo. Other features include the authentic Willans four-point harness and the dp-911 R/ST roll bar.

The windscreen is kept free of mist by embedded electric heating wires. A Momo steering wheel with a diameter of 350 millimeters, reworked instrumentation, the lightweight carpet set in black felt as well as the kneebars and the interior door panels made of coarsely woven, glass-fiber reinforced plastic further enhance the sporty interior. It should not be forgotten that a revised five-speed manual gearbox (G50) was, of course, also brought in the car.

The sports car is perfected with bumpers, turn signal elements, parking light mounts, and front fenders, bonnet with lock mount for the Porsche 911 of the G-body, open side skirts without underbody protection.

The rear bumper with short horns, chromed exterior mirror housings of the Carrera RS 2.7 as well as chromed window frames, door handles and other details such as quick release fasteners were also included in the specifications.

A retrofitted electric power steering system, the rear window made of weight-optimized Plexiglas and the lightweight battery in a special aluminum frame finally make the equipment complete.

The dp Motorsport homage to the Porsche 911 S/T stands in style on a set of Fuchs rims in 8 and 9 x 15 inches with Michelin sports tires “TB5F” in 225/50 and “TB5R” in 270/50. Oh, how we would love to see this Porsche conquer the Green Hell.

Images Miranda Media, dp Motorsport, KW, Words C. Schmidt