Porsche 911s all look pretty similar. You won’t catch me complaining; almost every iteration of the car is gorgeous. At least, until modders hack them up for the sake of standing out. That brings us to the Gunther Werks F-26. It’s not really a modded 911; it’s a completely reimagined version of the iconic German coupe. But it pulls off a trick I’m not sure I’ve seen: It makes a wild departure from Porsche’s original design, while simultaneously maintaining 911ness and, critically, still looking good. Take a look, because this is truly an impressive accomplishment of automotive design.
Gunther Werks calls its work with Porsche 911s “remastering.” It’s been in business for quite a few years now, building super-limited runs of completely customized 911s for people with huge budgets (prices vary, but we’re talking over half a million for one, easy).
The F-26 is GW’s latest, trotting out today at, where else, The Quail during Monterey Car Week. The car’s name is meant to match its fighter-jet look, and 26 is the planned production run. It’s described as taking “inspiration from the iconic Porsche 935 Slantnose and the Porsche Slantnose road car,” but I think that’s kind of an undersell.
The car definitely looks like a 911, but that custom front end and headlight shape mated to the mid-’90s Porsche greenhouse come together to make something that is truly unique and interesting. I’m not saying I necessarily like it better than a stock 993, but I’m really enamored by how well it’s iconoclastic and cohesive at the same time.
OK, you know what? The front looks a little like a Mazda Lantis (AKA 323F). But that doesn’t diminish the overall coolness of this thing for me.
The F-26’s actual specs are impressive, and frankly, quite scary. The car weighs about 2,700 pounds and runs a 4.0-liter flat six, co-developed with Rothsport Racing, is juiced to 1,000 horsepower and 750 lb-ft of torque. It has a six-speed manual with a limited-slip diff, and fairly enormous tires (295s up front, 335s in the back), plus “motorsport-grade ABS and advanced traction control.” I mean, you’re going to need all the help you can get keeping this thing on the road.
The chassis has new double-wishbone front suspension, adaptive dampers, and the wheelbase has been extended 30mm to the rear, which should also help stability somewhat.
My own experience with Gunther Werks is pretty limited. I got to drive one of its early cars years ago and was never able to get comfortable with it—couldn’t get used to its aggressively progressive steering. But if you’re brave enough to wield 1,000 horsepower with three pedals, and have a bottomless car budget, you will blow a lot of minds anywhere you pull up in this thing. Swipe through some more images here:
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