We didn’t realize it at the time, but Tuthill might have opened a new front in the realm of Porsche restomods. The 40-year-old English company most known for its Safari 911s and, much more recently, the Singer ACS, flew to Pebble Beach to introduce its 911 K. That was a lightweight B-road special weighing just 1,874 pounds, powered by a 3.8-liter engine with an 11,000-rpm redline. The 911 K has a brother now, one blending Tuthill’s rally history with the urge to go on 300-mile road trips. Called the Tuthill 911 SC/RS, it takes its inspiration from the 911 SC/RS used for Porsche’s first official rallying program, the famous Rothmans car prepped by Dave Richards at a then-young Prodrive.
That Group B program is where Tuthill got its start with Porsche; current company honcho Richard Tuthill’s father Francis would fix Richards’ Porsches after rallies. The company still maintains some of the 20 original SC/RS models Porsche made, as well as making makes faithful reproductions of the original based on the early 1980s Turbo Look cars with wide fender flares but no whale tail, and Tuthill still bangs them down snowy singletrack on video.
This SC/RS is different. It’s built on a 993-series 911, an uncommon choice. The comparatively much more modern 993 series suits this car’s purpose as an all-driver “for long road trips, to be enjoyed in comfort, but with an early feel,” while still being able to “charge down a country road with the same sense of lightness one would normally associate with earlier Porsche 911s.”
Since the 993-series cars were already excellent at that, what’s been changed? The 3.6-liter flat-six has been bored out to 3.8 liters, breathes through a custom butterfly intake, and is run by a new Motec control unit, output sent to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual. Tuthill’s maintained its typical discretion about power figures, so output is an unknown; the standard engine made 282 horsepower. Body panels recall the 930 Turbo from 911s two generations earlier, punctuated by a whale tail — but we’re pretty sure there are no turbos underneath. Custom 16-inch Fuchs lookalike wheels hide Tuthill-branded calipers and two-way adjustable dampers.
Interior designed turned to the late 1980s 3.2 Carrera ClubSport for theme, meaning racer-like simplicity wrapped in lightweight luxury, and no rear seats.
Tuthill says he’s making 15 of these. Going by the testimonials on the company’s website, owners already are already enjoying a few of them, meaning there are even less to be had. Expect to pay a fortune, but hey, that’s what everyone is doing nowadays.
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