Three Stunning Restomods from Monterey Car Week 2024

From vintage racing and car shows that would welcome any make and model to exclusive events and limited-production vehicle debuts, Monterey Car Week offers something for everyone. Perfectly restored classics are fawned over just as much as race cars that look every bit like they were run hard and put away wet. However, for everyone that demands original parts and a showroom-perfect appearance, there are others that want a bit more modern performance from their classic cars. Restomods are bit tough to define, but they’re essentially cars that are rebuilt with more modern components, typically from improved performance and convenience. It’s just another way to hot-rod a vehicle, and many collectors are embracing these cars that let them enjoy a vintage looking cars with fewer drawbacks. Here are just a few of the many restomods that made their debut at Car Week 2024.

Eccentrica V12

The Eccentrica V12 was unveiled at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, as a modern interpretation of the Lamborghini Diablo. It features a carbon fiber body that is wider but still true to the original Marcello Gandini lines.

Its naturally aspirated V-12 features a new rotating assembly, higher-lift cams, drive-by-wire throttle bodies, and a modern ECU. The engine upgrades are good for an additional 50 ponies, now at 550hp. The drive-by-wire throttle bodies, along with a new transaxle with one extra gear, make the V-12 easier to live on a day-to-day basis but also increase the overall performance. There’s also a new double-wishbone suspension with TracTive active dampers to match the car’s wider stance and serve up lots of grip.

Eccentrica’s founder and president, Emanuel Colombini, is excited to offer a modernized take on a much-loved design. “While I have such admiration for the original design, I wanted to enhance the driving experience. What you see here today is the result of our engineering team going to work to deliver a car that transcends the boundaries of what has previously been achievable in technology and performance. It’s a completely modern hypercar with the heart and soul of a ‘90s classic.”

We got a front-row seat as the V-12 was fired up and the Capristo exhaust system put on quite the performance. The dual-mode exhaust makes a notable difference and lets you leave the neighborhood and make early-morning Cars & Coffee runs without causing too much of a disturbance.

Eccentrica plans on building 19 examples of the reimagined V12, with deliveries beginning in 2025.

Rothspeed Splitray

The Splitray was born out of Scott Roth’s one-off widebody C2 Corvette that is more than six inches wider that stock. The extra width comes not just in the fenders—most of the extra real estate is in the cabin. So while there are wider wheels and tires, the passengers also benefit from extra room, and yet somehow the significant extra width doesn’t spoil the classic lines of a Midyear Sting Ray.  

The custom body is built by Fiber Forged Composites and is made from carbon fiber weave that is  injected with resin and cured in its mold. Weighing just 110 pounds, its stronger and lighter than the original fiberglass.

The wide body conceals an all-new chassis with billet upper and lower control arms front and rear as well as billet spindles. The chassis uses JRI double-adjustable coilover shocks and 14-inch Wilwood brakes with six-piston rotors that integrate a Bosch ABS/traction control system to make the best use of both the immense braking power as well as the horsepower.

Rothspeed showed the Splitray with an LT4 crate engine, but when it goes into production it will be powered by an LS3-based 416 V-8 with a Whipple supercharger and about 1,000 horsepower. Total vehicle weight is expected to be around 2,800 pounds, depending on build options .Rothspeed hopes to build a handful of Splitrays each year and be able to turn around each custom build in a matter of a couple months. Prices start at $600,000.

Porsche bb Targa Hybrid

Beau Boeckmann, the President and COO of Galpin Motors, is reintroducing bb-Auto with a stunning reinterpretation of the brand’s most notable Porsche 911. This striped 911 Targa is an homage to the rainbow-liveried model build in collaboration with Polaroid in 1976.

This example uses a rather interesting powertrain. “We worked with Ed Pink,” said Boeckmann. “He bored out the motor to 4.0-liter, getting about 400 horsepower naturally aspirated. Then we added a Vonnen hybrid system that adds about 150 horsepower right at the flywheel.” The added power and perhaps efficiency of the hybrid is intriguing, and it seems like the right idea for a restomod that bridges the gap with modern performance. “Bringing together what works with the classic and blending that with some modern technology, you get the performance of a naturally-aspirated engine, the sound, and how it feels, with the instant torque of a hybrid,” explained Boeckmann.

If buyers want a bb-Auto Porsche just like this, seven will be available to celebrate the 50th anniversay of bb-auto, although Boeckmann told us that a Moonracer version will also be available that will use silver stripes. A gold version is also being considered.