We've seen slant nose Porsches here before. And we've had Renegade V8 editions too. All those pale, however, in the presence of today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe crazy-custom twin-turbo SBC, speedster-bodied, TV in the dash, massive scoop-wing'd Miami Vice drug dealer's car of a 912. And it's up to you to decide if its price is equally over the top.
Less over the top and lots more down under was yesterday's brute of a Ute - the Cleveland-powered Falcon XF. Sadly for that Aussie, fully 65% of you felt it far less charming than Paul Hogan, but almost as weathered. Pour a forty of Fosters on the kerb mate, honor for its Crack Pipe loss.
Speaking of forties, it was nearly that many years over which Sarah Winchester undertook the relentless expansion of her San Jose home. Driven by grief over the loss of a child and her husband, the heir to the Winchester Repeating Rifle Co. fortune abided a medium's advice never to complete construction on the Victorian residence as that was the only way to appease the restless souls of those killed by the company's lethal product. She died in her sleep in 1922, having been faithful to the spiritualist's directive, and today her home stands as a monument to grief born of sadness and when money meets madness.
Similarly monumental, today we have a wildly custom 1969 Porsche 912. The 912, in its first iteration looked like its big brother the 911, however in place of that car's pancake six, the lesser edition carried on the stalwart four from the precedent 356.
This 912 has leapfrogged the 911 and now packs an SBC in its butt. The Renegade V8 conversion is not all that crazy, and is a viable option for those who lack a sense of tradition and coo-coo about cocoa puffs snap oversteer. This one however goes not just one better, but two, as in two turbos, which the seller claims wring over 550-bhp out of the small block at 6-psi and over 850 at a questionably possible 28 pounds.
Fronting the eight is a 5-speed G50 out of a late 911, which is a very robust box, but a better choice paired up with that bi-turbo Chevy might have been the 930 4-speed which is like the Mike Tyson of trannies.
You might think that the builder would have stopped there, that the wild drivetrain might be enough, but then you would be wrong. The 912 was available in both coupe and targa body styles and this car was obviously the latter when it strutted out of Stuttgart as they are fairly easy to convert to full-on drop-tops. But this isn't a convertible, as it lacks any form of weather protection at all. It does rock a speedster windscreen and hard tonneau over the vestigial back seats. Up front the nose has been treated to a slant job where beady little projector lights flank a louvered hood which allows air flow to the front-mounted radiator. The valance has more vents and slots in it than a 3-Day Blinds store, finished with 928 lights.
Inside there are a pair of racing buckets sporting blue five points, and the dash has been completely capped in fiberglass into which black on white gauges have been set. There's also a TV just above the shifter in case you get bored with driving a 550-horse handfull of imminent death. All in all it looks somewhere between tasteful and full-douchtastic. YMMV.
Sixteen thousand miles is what is claimed, and that must be since it's gone from mild to wild as a stock '69 912 with that few would fetch a pretty penny. This one, which may have started stock, has gone not just the extra mile in its updating, but several more and then backtracked to get directions.
Why all the crazy updates? Perhaps the builder felt themselves a kindred soul to tortured Sarah Winchester, unable to bring the changes to an end. Or maybe, like Sarah, there was just a lot of money, and not much restraint. Either way, this custom Porsche is now seeking a new owner. And as the Winchester Mystery House has become one of San Jose's most popular tourist attractions, so might this become the talk of its new owner's neighborhood. Tickets to the Winchester House start at $30, this Porsche has an asking price of $16,550, lots more sure, but remember you have to walk the 160 rooms of Sarah's wacky shack, while with the Porsche, you can drive.
What do you think about that price, is $16,550 a bargain for so over the top a Porsche? Or, would paying that much make you loonier than a Winchester?
You decide!
eBay or go here if the ad disappears. H/T to georgeclintonwilleatyourmaggotbrain for the hookup!
Help me out with NPOCP. Click here to send a me a tip, and remember to include your commenter handle.