From the April 2019 issue of Car and Driver.

Widebody 911s with bulging fenders and steamroller tires have terrorized California's canyon roads for decades. But rarely do such Porsches, swollen to the point of requiring an EpiPen, go down the road as well as this Gunther Werks.

HIGHS: A car that communicates joy loudly.

Gunther Werks has been restoring, rebuilding, and redoing Porsche 911s for a little over two years. So far, the small shop in Garden Grove, California, has produced just two customer cars. Each began life as a 993, the final air-cooled 911, and four more are currently in the works. They wear custom carbon-fiber-intensive bodies made and designed by Gunther Werks. The unit here is its first, a development prototype with 13,515 hard miles on its 993-based 420-hp 4.0-liter flat-six. In a show of what we'll assume is confidence, Gunther Werks simply handed over the key and let us run numbers on it—no chaperone, no special instructions, no worried phone calls. Another Porsche restomod maker whose name rhymes with Zinger won't let our test equipment anywhere near its cars.

View Photos Jessica Lynn Walker Car and Driver

Testing revealed that Gunther Werks's car performs like a modern 911. Launching rear-engined cars is a delicate act, a bog-or-burn affair—especially with fat 335s in back. But get it right and the coupe hits 60 mph from rest in 3.7 seconds, making it as quick as a new Carrera T with a manual transmission. On the skidpad, the 1.12 g's recorded by this hot-rodded 1995 911 bests the latest GT3 by a hundredth.

LOWS: Wallflowers and 99-percenters need not apply.

The Angeles Forest Highway exposed the true virtues of this restomod. Unlike modern sports cars that goad you on by masking speed, Gunther Werks's creation enhances the sensation. The desire to go faster in this car is born of that feedback. In the clouds above Los Angeles, this 911's vivid responses and slow-reading speedo convinced us we were cornering too slowly, considering the amount of grip available. Then we arrived at the far side of the mountain five minutes sooner than usual.

View Photos Jessica Lynn Walker Car and Driver

The big 295/30ZR-18 Pirelli P Zero Corsas up front have an amplified line to the Alcantara steering wheel. Gunther Werks widened the front track to the point of its being only a half-inch narrower than the rear, and the new footprint helps to erase understeer and balance the handling. A thoroughly redone rear suspension replaces the rubber at the end of the suspension links with metal-on-metal ball joints to add immediacy to the car's responses. The 993's tiny 89.5-inch wheelbase lends a nimbleness that seems impossible in a car with tires so wide. Turn-in is quick, with no lost motion or nervousness. Simply eyeball the apex and everything below you falls into place. The major controls are full of flavor and tuned for joy.

Braking from 70 mph consumes just 152 feet, more than a car length shorter than an original 993 can manage. The stock ABS serves as the sole driver aid. Carbon-ceramic rotors that barely fit inside the 18-inch wheels are clamped by six-piston calipers in front and four-piston units in the back. Forget fade. Our distances improved after each hard stop as the tires and brakes warmed up. The pedals are set up for easy heel-and-toeing, and the six-speed's short shifter slots into gear with a firm shove.

View Photos Jessica Lynn Walker Car and Driver

In addition to the carbon-fiber body, Gunther Werks makes the wheels, the seats, the lights, and even little bits like the shifter. It takes each car down to the bare metal before grafting on the carbon-fiber fenders, doors, hood, and roof. Our test car weighed 2856 pounds, 224 less than the last 993 Carrera we had on the scales. The company claims that its subsequent cars are even lighter.

Serving as a patron to an artist is never inexpensive, and buying a Porsche 911 remastered by Gunther Werks is no different. But what you get is a car that seems, in many ways, like more than a mere machine. Listen closely and you can hear the oil pulsing through the car's circulatory system. The exhaust growls, the steering massages, the flat-six binges premium. You're just the brain controlling the beast. The brain and the wallet.

Specifications Specifications Porsche 911 remastered by Gunther Werks VEHICLE TYPE

rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door coupe PRICE AS TESTED

$618,000 (base price: $525,000) ENGINE TYPE

SOHC 12-valve flat-6; aluminum crankcase, cylinders, and heads; port fuel injection

Displacement

244 in3, 3996 cm3

Power

420 hp @ 7100 rpm

Torque

335 lb-ft @ 5115 rpm TRANSMISSION

6-speed manual DIMENSIONS

Wheelbase: 89.5 in

Length: 167.7 in

Width: 74.8 in

Height: 50.8 in

Passenger volume: 43 ft3

Curb weight: 2856 lb C/D TEST RESULTS

60 mph: 3.7 sec

100 mph: 8.2 sec

150 mph: 21.9 sec

Rolling start, 5–60 mph: 4.5 sec

¼-mile: 11.9 sec @ 120 mph

Top speed (drag limited, C/D est): 170 mph

Braking, 70–0 mph: 152 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 1.12 g C/D FUEL ECONOMY

Observed: 15 mpg Expand Collapse

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