Bluebird Sings

- Dan Trent

Vision of the perfect customised Porsche? Or overblown caricature? You may consider the megamoney restorations carried out by Singer Vehicle Design a bit of both. But any high-minded convictions you may have regarding backdated 911s are hard to stick by once you’ve witnessed or, better still, experienced what the cars are actually about. After a visit to the workshop a few years back I had a sense of this, the tour revealing the obsessive attention to detail lavished on every last component. And like many I’ve pored over cars they’ve restored, awed by the quality and finish.

But drive one? You only earn that privilege by acquiring a 964, sending it to California and then awaiting its return, ‘reimagined’ to your personal spec. Given rising values of donor cars and shifting exchange rates mean this car is now insured for considerably more than the half million or so the restoration cost it’s not surprising owners keep their cars to themselves.

Most owners. The man who commissioned the ‘Dorset’ car you see here is of the opinion his car should be enjoyed. And if he’s too busy, well, he’ll delegate the task to someone he trusts will appreciate it appropriately. Somewhat incredibly that person is me, my instructions best summarised as ‘enjoy yourself’.