Our beloved 964! Actually… this was Taylor’s beloved 964. A touchy subject here at the shop to this day. A love story with a bittersweet ending, if you will. When we found this car, it was in a sad state of neglect. The previous owner had used it as a weekend track car for a while and then we assume the novelty wore off, because it sat in his garage, covered in dust, leaking oil from multiple places, and bearing bruises that told stories for days. We found the car one year prior to the time we purchased it. At the time, we could not come to an agreement on price, given the condition, so we sadly had to walk away. One year later, almost to the day, we got an unexpected call from the owner who had told us it was time to part with the car and that he was willing to accept our original offer. As with anything we do, we didn’t wait another minute. We jumped in the truck, hooked the trailer, and off we went.
It was love at first sight for Taylor, but there weren’t any concrete plans for the car, other than a good cleaning, some fresh gas, an oil change and an overall inspection of the issues to be addressed, so that Taylor could perhaps make this her own little daily driver.
As we got the car to the shop, she began to develop a vision for what she wanted the car to look, feel, drive and sound but not long after those ideas came about, we decided to host our first Cars+Coffee event.
Why is that worth mentioning? Well, it just so happens that at this very Cars+Coffee, a gentleman walked into our shop, and also fell in love with the 964. Despite Taylor’s numerous attempts to tell the man that the car was not for sale, he would not let off, and kept increasing his offer with each attempt to persuade Taylor into selling the car.
The back and forth went on for a good 40 minutes, leading to a final offer that was so outrageous that it made it impossible for Taylor to turn down. And so, just like that, her car, which she had already nicknamed “Mouse” for obvious reasons, was no longer hers. The eye watering final offer however came with one very important condition…
That Retrowerks build the car to have the same “Kickass” attitude as the Retro Martini 911. He went on to mention that he wanted it to be widebody, to have stance, to be loud, all while keeping it the original color combination of Slate Grey Metallic on Magenta Interior, and under no circumstance were we to touch the interior at all, other than minor touch ups. (As with the Retro Martini 911, it’s something about the smell of certain interiors that you just don’t want to mess with). Outside of the mentioned conditions, we were entrusted with, and given complete creative freedom of design.
We’ve been told that we “nailed it”!!
We began by disassembling the complete car so we could start with a blank canvas. The body received all new steel front and rear flares, as well as a new euro rear bumper center piece. The front bumper was modified as per our design with integrated brake ducts, and fog lights delete, achieving an uninterrupted smooth look. To continue with our streamline look, we replaced the plastic, and often problematic rocker panel covers with hand fabricated steel rocker covers, that were welded to the body in a seamless fashion. Following the extensive body work, the car was then painted in two stage of its original, special order Slate Grey Metallic. While the body and paint work were underway, the 3.6L motor was completely disassembled and rebuilt with all new hardware, to its factory specifications. The Tiptronic transmission was also rebuilt to factory specs.
Oh yes, it was a “Tip”. Did we forget to mention that?
Upon completion of the body, and in its new shimmering glory, the chassis sat in our shop, looking like a toy model that was freshly taken out of its box. We began to work on the suspension and braking, by replacing any worn parts from the already modified suspension setup the car came with, with all new parts, and had the four brake calipers fully rebuilt and powder coated to their original state. One of the original visions we had for this car, was to have new wheels, but not just any wheels. They had to be designed by us and made specifically for this car. The design we had originally imagined was the nostalgic look of the Porsche Phone Dial wheels commonly found on 944 models in the mid to late 80s, but with the modern touch of being built in three-piece configuration, in 18” diameter, with polished barrels and of course with gold centers.
We have a thing for gold wheels that we cannot explain.
We swore we would not modify the interior of the “Mouse”, apart from any necessary repairs, as per the new owner’s demands, and we did honor just that. Well, except for the door panels, which we decided to rebuild in Carrera RS style, simultaneously dressed with the original door pocket and hardware. We slipped that under the “creative design freedom” clause. We rebuilt the otherwise tired gauges, with the Tach now bearing the Retrowerks Logo, repaired a couple of broken panels, and made one very important modification to the interior. As the new owner is a rather tall man standing at a staggering 6’9”, we were tasked with relocating the driver’s seat as far back as we could possibly go, without tampering with the car’s original structure. New seat mounting brackets were fabricated to allow for this to happen while maintaining full seat functions.
You may have noticed something a little different about the headlights. Well, good eye! The headlights, and taillights were designed in house by us, and were custom made specifically for this car by our dear friends at dR Design in Los Angeles. The headlights feature a main LED low/high beam, with the additional 4-Point LED Daytime Running Lights or DRLs.
The taillights look completely stock when they are off, but tell a different story once the switch is on.The beautiful glow of the Perimeter DLR’s in each taillight extends to the rear center reflector, which, as most of you know, was never lighted by the factory, creating a quasi- futuristic continuous flow of soft red light. Additionally, each taillight features full LED taillight/brake light/turn signal functions, as do the reverse lights cleverly hidden within the sleek rear reflector.
When the car reached its completion, and with the delivery date fast approaching, it goes without saying that Taylor may have felt a mixture of emotions, knowing the car looked and performed exactly as we had planned, while knowing she would forever miss the aggressive and flawless look of her "Mouse" ... we mean ... Retro 964.