Rod Emory’s Porsche “911K” is a restomod racer straight from the ’60s
In many times and in many ways, street Porsches have been recreated in the image of racing Porsches. Some restoration outfits meticulously reconstruct original race cars from the inside out, while others delve so deeply into modern technology that the finished product shares only sponsor stickers with the original racer.
Emory Motorsports is known for its 356 resto-mods, but with its latest project Rod Emory took his first stab at breathing the soul of Porsche’s 1960s race cars into a 911. The car, rechristened as the 911K, bears the design cues and livery of its godfather—the 908 010, one of only five short-tail or “Kurzheck” models—and the body of its 1968 911 donor car.
The warm yellow that folds over the creamy front fender, between the classic round 911 lights, recalls the race livery of the 908 010—the car that made its first appearance at the 1000 km of Spa in 1968. Though the 908 010 crashed only two laps into the race, it was fully restored and now carries a star-studded provenance of drivers (including Vic Elford) in addition to its status as a factory race car. Porsche collector Cameron Healey entrusted care of the 908 010 to Emory Motorsports, and it served as inspiration for Rod Emory when he sat down with this 1968 911.
The resulting 911K features a Mobil Pegasus flying proudly behind the front wheels, which are, fittingly, custom 908-inspired five-spoke designs. Emory specifies that the track-worthy suspension system of fully adjustable KW coil-over gas shocks “provides great drivability in a variety of conditions.”
Though we understand if the 911K’s owner would be loath to besplatter his custom dream with earthly dust, stitched into the 911K’s design is a smattering of rally influence, including a doublet of red air horns peeking out underneath the right bumper. Two more lights perch between the 911’s headlights, rally-style. The motif of twos is complemented by the twin rear grilles reminiscent of earlier 356 models. Inside, the 911K’s “908-inspired front seats” show off Emory’s Spanish Red Veltex covers, the same color as the seats in this 356 RSR.
Though Emory Motorsports usually equips its unique creations with its Outlaw-4 engine, developed in conjunction with Rothsport, a 2.5-liter twin-plug 911 engine squats in the 911K, producing 190 hp according to Emory’s estimate. True to form, it snarls via 908-style cookie-cutter megaphone exhausts.
Emory is clear that he is “not in the stock restoration business,” but in contrast to Singer’s recent DLS project rebodied by the design house in carbon fiber, Emory restores the original steel bodies of its Outlaws to the utmost quality. We anticipate some hot debates from Porsche geeks ahead, now that Emory has firmly planted his flag in the custom 911 restoration space.