As if Los Angeles-based Singer Vehicle Design needed to further elevate its reputation for crafting “killer” Porsche 911 restomods, the air-cooled propagators’ latest project was completed in partnership with Red Bull Advanced Technologies—the cutting-edge engineering arm of the Red Bull Formula One team.
The goal was to “design a strategy for increasing the torsional stiffness of Type 964 Cabriolets and Targas reimagined through Singer’s Classic Turbo services.” While increased torsional stiffness may sound like a dry pursuit, a stiffer chassis provides more stable geometry—especially in corners. When paired with a proper suspension, this translates to sharper, more predictable handling.
Singer began by stripping a late-1980s/early-1990s 964-generation Porsche 911 down to its steel monocoque chassis, which was painstakingly assessed, cleaned, and prepared. Red Bull Advanced Technologies then stepped in to digitally model the chassis using scanned data and manual measurements. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software was used to calculate the torsional stiffness of various car body variants, with the FEA model refined until the predicted values matched those recorded in physical tests.
By assessing which parts of the open-roof structure worked hardest to resist torsion, Red Bull designed a series of 13 carbon fiber structures to reinforce the chassis while preserving the Type 964’s original form. These structures were integrated into the correlated FEA model and tuned to achieve the required stiffness levels. A prototype vehicle was then tested as a final validation of the analysis.
The 13 carbon fiber reinforcements are bonded to the donor 964 monocoque during the restoration process, increasing torsional rigidity by a staggering 175 percent. Singer claims that with this treatment, the driving experience of their open-roofed cars now matches that of the coupe.
“Our expertise is derived from relentless competition and success at the very highest levels of motorsport,” said Rob Gray, Technical Director of Red Bull Advanced Technologies. “The challenge from Singer was to increase the stiffness of the open-roof Type 964, giving it the same dynamic performance as the coupe whilst minimizing additional weight. The careful balancing of performance against weight is extremely familiar to us, and we’re delighted to have been able to support Singer and their clients with this solution.”
Singer doesn’t list a flat price for its Red Bull-bolstered builds, but expect to pay well upwards of $1 million. Inquire here.
