A Beautiful Porsche Restoration Is Not The Work Of A Moment

Part of the beauty of a restoration is in the search. We are hunters as a species and we delight in scouring the globe — or usually the internet — to find just the right project car for our needs. Once you uncover the perfect barn find Porsche the real fun beings. In my years in the Porsche community I’ve known countless fools who restore cars only to discover that once they’ve landed the prey by finishing the restoration process, they become complacent and desire to get back on the hunt as soon as possible. Within a year of restoration, many cars get sold off and they’re out searching for the next Porsche to return to showroom clean. It’s a vicious cycle.

The video here is a dramaticized version of real life, but it’s a beautiful piece of insight into the process of finding the right car, finding the right restoration specialists, finding the right parts, and getting the job done. The folks at Atelier Gobin in France put together this short film over the course and lifetime of a longhood 912 restoration. Clearly they played up a few facts, like the car being covered in actual dirt when they “found” it. Aside from the over-the-top aspects of the video, it does a nice job of showcasing their talents. The car is stripped down to nothing and built back up into a gorgeous example right before our eyes.

If every restoration were this easy, however, maybe we’d all take it up as a hobby.