The restomod industry – which restores and modifies older cars using the latest technology – has exploded in recent years, following the success of companies such as Icon and Singer.
Australia now has its own restomod outfit, known as Wiedergeboren, offering buyers the opportunity to enjoy the classic characteristics of older Porsche 911 models – but with the addition of modern luxury, technology, and performance.
After building a successful law firm in Canberra, Jason Wenning fell in love with the Porsche 911 platform and the restomod community, and so he created Wiedegeboren – which translates to ‘reborn’ in German – to cater to the enthusiast community in Australia.
With the help of Mark Poole, a former professional racing driver and Porsche specialist in Adelaide, Wiedegeboren chose its first car to be based on a 1979 Porsche 911SC.
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Power comes from a 964-sourced 3.8-litre flat-six engine – bored out from 3.6 litres – rebuilt utilising many OEM components, but with bespoke internals, ported heads, custom camshafts, individual throttle bodies, and a ceramic-coated custom exhaust – all controlled by a Motec computer.
The rear wheels are driven through a strengthened 915 five-speed manual transmission and limited-slip differential, with stopping power coming from the Porsche Boxster, and shock absorbers from Koni.
Speaking to CarExpert, builder Mark said the engine makes between 225 and 260kW of power – but with low- to mid-range torque prioritised for enjoyment on the road.
Built and rebuilt several times over the past eight years to get every detail “perfect”, the Wiedegeboren has now been unveiled to the public – with leather and tartan seats handmade in the UK, custom 18-inch alloy wheels from Canada, and hand-fabricated body panels.
“In Australia, we have a lot of tired [Porsche 911] 3.2s … and I wanted a hotrod 911, and I wanted to mix a little bit of hotrod with a little bit of comfort,” Mr Wenning told CarExpert, explaining the difference between the Wiedegeboren compared to other restomod 911s.
“964s are hard to find. There’s a lot more chassis [available] in the 3.2s, so there are a lot more donor cars [than 964s locally], hence we could probably do more of these,” he said.
Mr Wenning also said the G-Series 911s – built from the 1970s to the late 1980s – also allowed the build team to create much wider rear wheel-arches to accommodate deep-dish wheels.
“I’ve always loved my Porsches, and I’ve always loved stuff that’s a little bit unique, but when you find a factory car that’s unique, you don’t want to put [kilometres] on it – so it ends up sitting there,” Mr Wenning said.
“The idea behind this was to get out and drive it – you can drive it as a daily if you want to – don’t worry about how many [kilometres] you put on it.”
With plans to build a total of 10 vehicles, Wiedergeboren says each vehicle will be uniquely customised to the owner’s specification, with each build to cost $1.265 million – plus the price of a G-Series donor car.
For more information, visit the Wiedergeboren website by clicking here, or speak to the team at YTG by clicking here.
MORE: Explore the Porsche 911 showroom
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