Joe Croser
Northamptonshire, UK @jcx911
Model 997.2 Turbo
Year 2010
Acquired December 2015 I have changed my number plate and ‘tattooed’ my lower doors in an attempt to add a little more visual personality to my Turbo. Don’t get me wrong, this is no wholesale change, just a gentle makeover. I like the look of my car, but on occasion, in certain lights, it has lacked a certain je ne sais quoi.
There was a time when the Turbo was the most visually inspiring 911 on the road, with its huge whaletail and its flared wheel arches, but I think those days have passed. Today the GT cars with their aggressive looks, big spoilers and exciting colours grab all of the visual attention at a car meet, and the Turbo flies a little bit lower on the radar. Indeed, I sometimes feel like I am in an ordinary car. How ludicrous does that sound?
So, I started to explore my options for adding a little more visual appeal. I toyed with stripes down the bonnet – thin and fat – and I considered large decals down the flanks. And while I came up with some lovely looking images on Photoshop, it just didn’t feel right. As the Turbo has lost a little of its tough-guy image to the GT cars it has gained an air of sophistication, and I needed to respect that.
I pushed the pause button and turned to recent success stories for inspiration. I soon discovered that the secret sauce in all of the best outlaw creations from Magnus Walker, Paul Stephens, Singer and the like is ‘integrity’. In each case their retro creations stay true to their roots while exaggerating their enhancements. They are honest re-imaginations of a classic, if that isn’t an oxymoron.
Time to reset; I decided that my car is the definitive everyday supercar with uncanny abilities to cross continents with ease. To dress it up as a street racer would be dishonest.
And so, I turned back to Porsche’s options list to see what ‘decorations’ were originally offered for my generation of Turbo. I found a discreet ‘911 Turbo’ decal placed low-down on the doors. I liked it and toyed with various colours before settling on matte black, which is appropriately subtle and suits the old chap.