Australians can now buy million-dollar Porsches
Singer Vehicle Design starts with Porsche’s iconic sports car and uses modern technology to make it faster, more stylish and more expensive.
Everything old is new again, even things that never really get old - like the classic Porsche 911. Singer Vehicle Design, a California-based company, has made a global name for itself by taking old 911s and modernising and customising them to appeal to a new audience; specifically people willing to pay $1 million for the ultimate version.
The premise is relatively simple, but the finished product isn’t. Singer starts with the German brand’s iconic sports car and uses modern techniques and technology to make it faster, more stylish and more expensive.
It hasn’t taken long for the company, which stresses it has no official connection to Porsche, to become a favourite among collectors.
Singer Vehicle Design was founded in 2009 in Los Angeles but now has multiple production facilities in the US and the United Kingdom to keep up with the demand.
A demand that comes despite the eye-watering price of the cars, with a completed car costing more than $1 million, or four times the cost of a brand-new 911. This isn’t surprising when you consider the level of detail, with some of the Singer enhancements including carbon fibre panels, bespoke bodywork and even leather-lined engine bays.
Singer has focused its attention on the 964-generation of 911 models, which were built between 1989 and 1994. These were usually powered by an air-cooled, naturally aspirated six-cylinder engine, but there were turbocharged models and these are what the company has turned its attention to in recent years.
Its latest creation is known as the Dynamics & Lightweight Study - Turbo, or just DLS Turbo for short, which combines elements of its most racetrack-oriented lightweight models with a turbocharged engine. Two examples have been produced initially, one with road use in mind and the other clearly inspired by Porsche’s racing cars of the 1970s.
Singer Group founder Rob Dickinson explained that the request for these first DLS Turbo cars came from customers, but the idea had been in his head for a long time.
“I was 12 when my father’s friend showed us his Super 8 film of the 1977 Watkins Glen 6 Hours,” Dickinson explained. “As the familiar face of a Porsche 911 morphed into impossibly boxed hips, gaping intakes, and a giant double-planed rear wing, I can still remember the shock and the realisation that this was the other life of the 911 – the racing car.
“Since Singer began, I’ve wanted to return to that moment, collaborate with our clients and celebrate that car – the 934/5.”
These new examples are powered by a 3.8-litre flat-six engine with two turbochargers to make more than 520kW (a standard Porsche 911 fresh from the showroom has to make do with 283kW) and send power to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual transmission.
Such is the level of customisation Singer offers that while the two cars (referred to only by their colours in the company’s official release, Blood Orange and Moet Blanc) seemingly feature two different aerodynamic packages, the owner of the Moet Blanc example actually has two separate versions of the front fascia and rear decklid so they can swap between the small and large aerodynamic kits.
Singer Vehicle Design has expanded its operation into Australia, too, establishing a partnership with Zagame Automotive Group in 2021 to better serve local car collectors. The first Australian ordered car reportedly arrived that same year.