Dash-Cam Outtake: Porsche 911 – Not Quite Original As It Looks

As I was driving back with my wife from our weekly restaurant breakfast-date last Friday, I noticed a very familiar, not to say iconic shape arriving on the other side of the roundabout. I was about to meet said shape further down the road.

 

This is the frontal view I saw (enlarged from the video footage):

And why don’t we watch the video, curtsy of yet another dash-cam capture:

You just gotta love that sound, regardless if you’re into Porsche or not. But that roughty exhaust note, plus oversized wheels had me thinking I witnessed the first – maybe only – resto-mod 911 in Israel, which is amazing on two levels; First, that anyone would have the audacity to do so in a country where most restorers do their utmost to achieve original condition. Second, because not only is it a 911 but an early one, probably an early 1970s model and much more rare than the later ones (of which you can see at least one in classic car meetings in Israel nowadays). Also, this sports an original 1960/70s license plate, so it even started its life here. I’m hesitant but I might place this as one of the early series models, pre-1973.

Back to this 911s modifications, the wheels are massive compared with the original items, almost too large in fact. Not sure if they came off a Boxter or a later 911. And that engine could have come off an entirely different, not to mention younger 911. Final touch is of course, the side mounted sticker. Well, that’s resto-mod, isn’t it? Personally, I like it.

Editor’s Postscript: given the twin exhausts and the decidedly non-Porsche sound (to me), it’s anyone’s guess what’s inside. This 911 has also suffered severe body damage at the rear at some point; notice how the engine cover droops down between the taillights and the panel between the bumpers looks crude and hand made, compared to the real thing (lower photo above).

The wheels and tires aren’t all that big, as they still fit under the small fender openings. But they have lots of positive offset, which does not seem to correspond to the original hubs of the older 911. Who knows what lurks in this beast.