Makellos Classics 911 RS Hot Rod Converts A V8 Fanatic To A Porsche Believer

For better or worse, Matt Farah is largely finished creating new One Take video content. He’ll still be around to give video impressions of cars, but he’s sticking to only cars he’ll have the ability to drive for a few days, rather than a few minutes. After making hundreds of those popular YouTube videos, Matt is passing off the day-to-day business of One Taking to Smoking Tire cohort Zack Klapman. If you’ve been following the Smoking Tire podcast, or have seen any of their long-form video content, you’ll likely know who Zack is, but he has largely been a behind-the-scenes member of the TST tribe for most of his tenure. This isn’t his first stab at the One Take formula, as he’s done a handful of them already, but it is his first Porsche-related video content, so how do you think he did?

Makellos Classics has built a 1973 911 into a mishmash of Porsche parts, that looks and performs a lot like a Carrera RS does, or perhaps a bit better. With a carbureted engine housing a set of 906/911R camshafts rather than the Carrera’s MFI system, plus a whole host of suspension upgrades, it’s not quite a “tribute”, but it’s not quite a full on outlaw either. That engine sounds incredible, both inside and outside, and that’s certainly a point Zack dwells on in the video. For years he was a V8 fanatic, somewhat dismissive of the traditional Porsche sound, but it would seem that after stepping behind the wheel of this car, he’s become a changed man. That flat six growl that crescendos into a high pitch wail is one of the most intoxicating engine sounds I’ve ever experienced, and I can completely understand Zack’s about-face on the sound when plopped into a well built longhood.

This gorgeous early 911 has a look that may seem familiar to those of us in the Porsche community, having cribbed its livery from the Daytona-winning Brumos Porsche 911. That iconic pattern on a gorgeous white car is evocative of the good old days of sports car racing, and gives this car a whole lot of Porsche street cred. Clearly the person who would drive this car in this livery is a part of the in-crowd. It’s nice to see a fresh play on a known livery quantity, however, as the change in color palette is a welcome one. The grey and red Brumos-esque stripes work well with this car’s intention. It’s not quite an RS, not quite a Hot Rod, and not quite a Brumos car, but it’s close enough to all of those things that it will serve its new owner well. It’s just a bit more than one tenth of a perfect Carrera RS, but provides all of the experience that a well set up RS might. That says more about this car than even this whole video can.