Classic Porsche 911 Is Actually a 996-Gen With a Bizarro Retro Body Kit
What you see is not what you get.
I'll admit: I don't have a lot of love for the 996-generation 911. Don't get me wrong—they're still fun cars and have a certain time-capsule charm to them, but outside the context of a Radwood show, Porsche's late-nineties attempt to bring the 911 into the future just looks painfully blobby and dated.
That's why this project by Spanish shop Porsche by Ludic is so intriguing: it attempted to correct Porsche's swing-and-a-miss at the future by going back to the past. Their 996 Carrera has been carefully crafted to wear a vintage-style nose and tail, along with 18-inch era-appropriate Fuch-style wheels and a widebody to match.
They call this 1973 911 RSR-inspired project "Retro Evolution," and they're developing a full fiberglass body kit to retro-fy your 996 should you desire.
Countless hours of custom bodywork went into this car as you can see on YouTube, but I'm still not sure this is the answer. The whole car was lengthened nearly 7.5 inches to make it less rounded, but it's made the rear look a bit too gradually raked and pinched off in the process.
Round headlamps were thankfully added back on to the front in the place of the 996's original "melty egg" lights, and while these look a little more bubbly on the outside than a stock 1973 set, they don't look half bad from further away.
There's even period-style "Retro Evo" graphics down the side and tasteful dark blue-grey paint. From the right angle, it's pretty lovely.
Yet the upside is that this transformation still looks quite usable as a car, with a big hole left for the engine bay and the 996's cavernous trunk still accessible up front. Air ducts were integrated up front to be as unnoticeable as possible.
The 996 was a big step forward for Porsche in terms of everything from technology to lap times, and thanks to its controversial looks, regular 996s are some of the cheapest modern Porsches you can buy today.
Hey, Ludic—tackle that garbage 996 interior next. I'm curious to see how you'd bring that gross Ford Taurus-looking abomination back into a classic 911 look. Until then, you can follow the adventures of Porsche by Ludic's retro 911 on their Instagram here, or on their Facebook page here.
h/t: Road & Track
