Being a world-renowned automotive name like Top Gear has its benefits, and the latest has to do with a detailed first look at Singer Vehicle Design’s newest project. That would be a reimagined 911 crossed with something that’s more akin to an off-road racing buggy, thanks to help from Tuthill Porsche.
Meet Singer’s ACS (All-terrain Competition Study), which is probably going live on Singer’s social media channels a little later today if we are not mistaking their teaser for something else entirely. Doesn’t really matter, because Top Gear’s video (embedded below) shares this safari-prepped 911 in all its glory anyway.
Before official word on the matter arrives, though, all we have to base our findings on are the details shared by the British publication. Fortunately, there’s an abundance of them, given the length of this first look. It all started as a one-off client request who wanted “an air-cooled Porsche that could compete in off-road racing and demonstrate extensive off-highway capabilities.”
By the looks of it, Singer and Tuthill Porsche got everything nailed out properly. Everything starts with a quick walkaround from the 1:43 mark to familiarize us with the carbon fiber body panels, eight shock absorbers (there’s an adjustable couple for each wheel), and rear styling that’s an homage to the 959 Safari.
Of course, there’s also a Rothmans-inspired Easter Egg spliced on the underside of the funky front hood (the graphics can be seen at the 13:15 mark), but before we get there, we also have to hear a little something about the donor and the technical details of the ACS.
So, do check out the 3:45 mark to understand what happened to the 1990 964-generation donor 911 and how the air-cooled 3.6-liter engine (that’s worth around 450 hp, but is tunable for each event) got mated to a five-speed sequential gearbox.
Next up is the very short interior look (4:14) that paves the way for the main course of the presentation – the arrival of Richard Tuthill, who becomes the host at the 5:30 mark and carefully guides us through every single chapter of this (still ongoing) project that’s just about ready to start real-world testing.
While pricing remains a mystery at this point, we learned (from the 21:25 mark) some details about the plans ahead, which include visits to off-road locations in Wales, Morocco, California, and an undisclosed location that was shared by the client on a hand-written map!
Before official word on the matter arrives, though, all we have to base our findings on are the details shared by the British publication. Fortunately, there’s an abundance of them, given the length of this first look. It all started as a one-off client request who wanted “an air-cooled Porsche that could compete in off-road racing and demonstrate extensive off-highway capabilities.”
By the looks of it, Singer and Tuthill Porsche got everything nailed out properly. Everything starts with a quick walkaround from the 1:43 mark to familiarize us with the carbon fiber body panels, eight shock absorbers (there’s an adjustable couple for each wheel), and rear styling that’s an homage to the 959 Safari.
Of course, there’s also a Rothmans-inspired Easter Egg spliced on the underside of the funky front hood (the graphics can be seen at the 13:15 mark), but before we get there, we also have to hear a little something about the donor and the technical details of the ACS.
So, do check out the 3:45 mark to understand what happened to the 1990 964-generation donor 911 and how the air-cooled 3.6-liter engine (that’s worth around 450 hp, but is tunable for each event) got mated to a five-speed sequential gearbox.
Next up is the very short interior look (4:14) that paves the way for the main course of the presentation – the arrival of Richard Tuthill, who becomes the host at the 5:30 mark and carefully guides us through every single chapter of this (still ongoing) project that’s just about ready to start real-world testing.
While pricing remains a mystery at this point, we learned (from the 21:25 mark) some details about the plans ahead, which include visits to off-road locations in Wales, Morocco, California, and an undisclosed location that was shared by the client on a hand-written map!