How to forwarddate a 911

It sounds obvious, but the 911’s largely interchangeable parts from 1974 right up to the end of the air-cooled era in 1998 means forward-dating is as simple as the more common practice of backdating. There’s a particularly large overlap in parts between the 964 and G-series generations, which is why older cars previously were made to look like 964s and how today 964s are being made to look like its predecessors.

Jamie Tyler at leading independent specialist Paragon Porsche fondly remembers a time long ago when the company was frequently producing forward-dates for clients: “It was fairly easy to do in the sense that front and rear wings were the same, but a little extra fabricating was required elsewhere. For example, front and rear bumpers needed new brackets, and the side sills needed gluing on, as the 964’s had holes for clips but the G-series didn’t.

“A little cutting was required at the back of the car to get the 964’s rear reflector and lights to fit. We had a supplier who provided a full glass-fibre kit, teardrop mirrors and Cup wheels. We haven’t done forward dates for years, but they were very popular at the time,” Jamie says. With 70 per cent of all Porsche created still on the road today, it’s quite possible that one of these previous forward-date cars has since taken on a whole new look in being converted back to original, or even been reinvented as a backdate car.