A couple of weeks ago, we showed you all of the Porsche lots that will be selling during Monterey Car Week next week. There’s right around 100 Porsches on the peninsula that you can choose from. We’ve selected a couple to highlight here, as they’re a bit special. You see, these two were both built by the same famed tuning company, and are both being sold at the same auction just a day apart. One of them is pretty well known, the other has been kept under wraps until now, but is being sold to benefit a good cause. If you’re really dedicated, perhaps you’ll buy both of them?
The Bisimoto IROC Tribute
The first car is one we’ve already talked about a few times. This blue beauty has some IROC 911 vibes to it with modern updates and a whole lot more power. The Porsche was custom built by Bisimoto for SEMA a few years ago, and has gone through a couple of iterations since then. When it first debuted, it was a widebody car with crazy aero, giant wheels, and 964 aesthetics. Since then, it’s been stripped back a bit and given a more sedate exterior, if you can call IROC bumpers/tail and a pair of turbos sticking out of the rump sedate. Like I suspect most of our readers would feel, I also like this particular version a bit better.
One thing is for sure, this is the Porsche that works best with the Outlaw 52 wheels. They are just vintage enough, and just modern enough, to work really well with this body and paint combination. They are much better, in my opinion, than the gaudy white wheels the car used to wear. What used to be a Porsche that jumped out and scared you is now a car that you can show off to your family. They still might not get it, but at least it wont make them sign you up for psychiatric help. Until you fire it up, anyway.
Open the decklid of this crazy piece, and you’re staring at acres of intercooler. If the giant turbos didn’t key you in, this might be enough to tell you that the engine moves through a lot of compressed air very quickly. In various tunes, the Porsche has been stated to produce between 800 and 1000 horsepower, though we don’t currently know what the car makes, as the Mecum listing has absolutely zero information about it. Either way, it’s probably enough to scare you the first time you drive it, and the second (assuming the first time isn’t the last time). The eagle eyed among us will notice that the engine in the back of this car is not the stock flat six we all know and love. That alternator and A/C compressor don’t really look the part. No, indeed, this is a 3.4 liter water-cooled 996-sourced M96 engine with a pair of giant blowers bolted to it. That’s crazy, right? Just the best kind of crazy.
That engine is controlled by an AEM standalone engine management system, and everything has been custom wired by RyWire, owned by another Porsche-inspired fanatic. Everything still functions in this car the way it should, from the air conditioning and gauges to the throttle-by-wire and traction control.
Inside, you have very few amenities, relying solely on a pair of Recaro buckets, a Momo steering wheel, a 997-sourced cable shifter, and not much else. The color-matched floors and cage are a nice touch, but I might have some knee clearance issues with that dash bar where it is. The dash looks mostly stock, with the addition of a red faced tachometer in the center. The radio appears to have been removed, which is fine, because M96s actually sound quite good, and turbochargers sound even better.
Everything about this Porsche is big and bold and brash. You don’t expect the details to catch you off guard as being beautiful, but they sure are. There is something brilliant about using a fender-mounted Speedster-style mirror for this car. Whether it calls back to early Porsche racers or to Bisi’s JDM-derived automotive tuning past, I’m not sure, but in any case I like it.
Sure, the Porsche Purists among us might not appreciate this car and what it means for the world of tuning, but if you can look past the blasphemy of water-cooling an air-cooled car, you just might find one of the most exciting Porsche builds of the last decade. This is an amazing and inspirational car, and being that it’s selling on Thursday with little to no fanfare, and absolutely zero promotion by Mecum, someone might get a heck of a deal on it. Bring your bidder paddle, you might need it.
The Bisimoto Charity Backdate
Where the blue car above was built for Bisi’s personal tastes, both mechanically and aesthetically, this long-hood backdate Porsche was built specifically to evoke a particular look. With a “Steve McQueen”-inspired exterior in mind, the car was painted in slate grey, and fitted with Fuchs-inspired Outlaw 52 wheels. It was a 1980 car that was backdated to long-hood spec bodywork. However, that’s not to say that this car is only good for its looks. Check out the engine compartment, and you’ll immediately see that this build has the go to match its show. While it isn’t quite as fast as the big blue whale, this beast can hold its own against most any Porsche on the road today, I’d wager. With 316 horsepower and only 2400 pounds of weight, this is bound to be one fast P-car.
So what exactly is powering this Porsche? Sitting out back is a 3.6 liter 993-sourced air-cooled flat six. Sitting on top of that engine is a later 997 GT3 intake manifold fitted with sequential fuel injection and a wild Formula 1 derived ‘Helmholtz pulse chamber’ exhaust system. It’s a shame there aren’t any sound files attached to this listing, as I’d really love to hear what that sounds like at full chat.
The inside of the Porsche is also vintage-inspired with hand-formed bare-aluminum aircraft-inspired seats, a classic Momo prototipo, 2.7 RS-style door panels, and that signature red faced tachometer gauge. Where the blue car had a race-focused interior, this slate grey beauty has an interior that more mimics the stock interior with some interesting tweaks. There is still a 4-point rollover bar in this car, but it’s not nearly as intrusive as the full cage found in the Turbo crazy. All in all, this seems like a pretty nice place to sit, assuming you bring some padding for those aluminum seats.
Even better than all that, though; the sale of this Porsche is going to benefit Boys Republic. Boys Republic exists to give adolescent youth with behavioral, educational, and emotional difficulties an opportunity to achieve their maximum. Since it was founded in 1907, Boys Republic has helped over 30,000 at-risk teenage boys and girls toward a more fulfilling and productive life.
Boys Republic had a special place in the heart of McQueen. When he got into an altercation with his abusive stepfather, the young McQueen was sent off to Boys Republic. In his later years, he reflected back on his time at the Boys Republic and gave them their due credit for helping him turn his life around. That’s why this car was built to mimic a modern Steve McQueen build, and the badge on the decklid even calls out the Boys Republic, denoting the car a “911BR”. It’s a good car for a good cause.