[ Modified Classics]
Messing around with classic designs can enhance the whole ownership experience, or corrupt the very virtues that make them more appealing than modern cars. Here, six exemplars of different modification schools make their case
Car fans have been customising their machinery for well over a century now. Back in the Twenties, Ford Model T owners were bolting Frontenac crossflow cylinder heads to the engines of their ‘Tin Lizzies’. A century later, the selection of machines gathered here represents a thin but tasty slice of the vast custom classic scene.
Representatives include Ninemeister’s Porsche 911 backdate, Frontline’s ‘LE60’ MGB riff, Tolman’s modernised 205GTI, a Ford F100 that starred on TV show Fast N’ Loud, an electrified DeLorean DMC-12 and a home-built ‘OEM+’ modern classic, the Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16.
With car designer Peter Stevens and Hagerty concours judge John Mayhead both offering their professional insights on this notoriously thorny topic, we set out to explore whether tinkering with your classic car ruins or revitalises it.
It’s impossible to explore custom car culture without including Porsche. With an easily accessible engine out back and a chassis layout that remained fundamentally unchanged for decades, there’s been plenty of Porsche parts-swapping down the eras. It’s why the trend of ‘back-dating’ 911s can exist at all. This customising style was given a huge boost by Brit Rob Dickinson when he created Singer Vehicle Design back in 2008.
British firm Ninemeister predates the famous Californian outfit, having been formed in the late Nineties by design engineer Colin Belton. Warrington-based Ninemeister was entrusted by Andy Paul Stafford when he sought to create his take on Porsche perfection, based on a 1987 911 Carrera 3.2.
The owner –Andy Paul Stafford
‘I’ve had 911s for 40 years, on and off… this is my sixth,’ reveals Andy. ‘Having had a lot of cars that were the way Ferdinand wanted them, I decided to do one the way I wanted.’ The idea Andy cooked up was to create something of a halfway house between a touring 911 and one that could keep pace on track.
These concepts might seem diametrically opposed, which is why some fettling was needed to get the car just as Andy wanted. ‘You specify it as you think you want it, but there are always a few tweaks. The first exhaust was too loud so I asked Ninemeister to add baffles, and soften the suspension too.’
Any build of this nature involves a methodical approach to parts selection. ‘It’s got a 993 engine, G50 gearbox, Turbo suspension, wheels and master cylinder, plus Boxster brakes on the front and a Wavetrac LSD. It’s making around 310bhp.’
Andy took years to thoroughly plan his build with the team at Ninemeister, and that atte
