Yesterday, I had lunch with an old friend, a client and one of their cousins. It doesn’t really matter who’s who, ’cause we’re all friends here. And if you didn’t already guess, the conversation was kingpin’d by cars including the Safari 911 on BaT that went for $174,100. Question of the lunch: what makes Dutchmann, Singer or any host of customizers and restoration experts exceptional? More specifically, what makes something we build special? Well, for that answer we turn to a chocolate soufflé of baking.
First off, am I trying to compare ourselves to the elites above? No. They have far more experience and have been doing this way longer than we have. They have earned their reputations while we are creating ours. But am I ready to say we can build something that competes? You bet. Don and I partnered in Superfly Garage, not just because of a share automotive passion, but because of our attention to detail and a history of garage built superfly rides. Plus we’ve been around the block to know what makes good collector cars. Check the contact us and the stewards tabs to get an idea of our backgrounds.
So when it comes to building a one off, what needs to be considered? Everything. Paint, engine, interior, suspension, exhaust, etc. But as anyone that cooks can attest to, just because you have the ingredients doesn’t mean you can replicate the sauce. It takes patience, experience, the right partners/suppliers and last but not least, creativity. It is after all, rolling sculpture. Ultimately, you are going to be the judge. Our hope is our artistic expression resonates with the automotive community. Because it would suck is if our builds fall flat after baking.
Shout out to Benton Performance who tuned my ’66 Porsche 912 for nothin’ in his parking lot before my drive up to Pebble Beach Concours. He’s one of the great Porsche air cooled, restoration performance shops out there.
Image: Bring a Trailer 1983 Porsche 911SC Safari