This ROCS Restomod 911 Is The Antithesis Of Singer

If, as the the saying goes, the devil is in the details, then this 1977 Porsche 911S is positively satanic. Every inch of this Porsche is festooned with details you would never notice if it wasn’t pointed out. In the same way that Singer re-imagines every single component of their customized 911s for ultimate perfection, New Jersey shop ROCS has done the same thing, but in a completely opposite way. Instead of making every little bit as perfect as possible, ROCS has crafted a unique look at a fabricated past that didn’t actually happen. This Porsche is styled to look like a Carrera Panamericana Mexican road racer. It’s been backdated, seriously lightened, custom fabricated, and hopped up in every way imaginable. It’s equal parts brand new and 1960s with a unique visual flair. A different kind of perfection if you will.

The team started with a mid-year 911 chassis, because they’re still plentiful and reasonably priced, then stripped it down to nothing. Very few of the original components were added back over the course of the project, as the exterior was backdated to the popular long-hood look with largely low-weight fiberglass components. The chassis itself was squared up, seam welded, and caged to make sure the suspension would do its job properly. Said suspension is stiffened with thicker torsion bars, as well as stronger 930 components, and offers dozens of points of adjustability. The Palo Alto, as this 911 is named, needs a lot more chassis stiffness, too, as it’s been fitted with a mind-warping, custom-built 3.8-liter carbureted engine built up from a 964 base. The transaxle is an internally reinforced 915-based race box with an awesome Hargette Racing shift assembly to the right of the driver.

Outside of the obvious performance benefits of a huge engine and wild race-derived chassis tuning, this Porsche’s most obvious asset is its custom hand-painted livery with perfectly distressed faux-patina. The details here are too innumerable to list, but if you watch the video above (you’ll love it when you hear the origin of the number on the front bumper), or check out some of the photographs in the gallery below, you’ll see some of them.

The hidden aero tricks of this car are without doubt our favorite detail. By hand-forming an aluminum lip for the front of the Porsche, it gains some motorsport-heritage visuals that the project needed. The owner didn’t want the Porsche to have a wing on the back, so ROCS custom assembled a pop-up spoiler using a 964 decklid and some custom formed sheetmetal. It gives the 911 a unique aesthetic with the wing stowed, while providing the high-speed stability the Porsche needs with it deployed.