The Singer 911 is built almost from scratch to be a brand new, old Porsche.
"This car grew from my hot rodding of a 1967 911 and the idea blossomed in my mind that maybe we can offer a fully warrantied, practical high-performance car that you can take to the track at the weekend and drive to work on Monday morning," said Rob Dickinson, designer of the Singer 911.
The Singer is handcrafted entirely in Southern California, using premium components throughout. The bodies are finessed and fitted with lightweight carbon fiber at Arias Group in Irvine. And world-famous builder Cosworth, just up the 405 Freeway in Torrance, hand assembles the engines.
"You may find Porsche engine builders within five miles, but you're not going to find this caliber of builder within 500 miles. So that's what we bring to the table for Singer," said Ken Anderson, VP of sales and marketing for Cosworth LLC.
Base price for a Singer 911 is $190,000. You can get a new Porsche 911 for under $100,000, but other versions are well over $200,000.
The Singer 911 definitely stands out. The first one is bright green and is sure to stick out in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where collector Matt Strong is shipping it after being the first enthusiast to buy a Singer. He likes new Porsches, but says the older ones have a certain charm.
"This one has got the character of the older models but with a lot of the performance and convenience of the newer ones, so it's kind of the best of both worlds," said Strong.
Singer can build up to 10 of the pricey cars per year each to customers' specifications, honoring yet improving on a model that's fully respected as legendary.
"That's our motto. If it can be improved, let's improve it. If it's perfect as it is, let's leave it as it is," said Dickenson.
