Want to turn your driveway into an art gallery? This Porsche offers the perfect opportunity. What you see here is an artist’s take on the last era of a revered decades-long tradition: the air cooled 911 C2S. That’s how Ferdinand Porsche designed this greatest of all sports cars and that’s, say purists, how they need to be. The artist concerned, the multi-media practitioner Daniel Arsham, calls it ‘993A’, riffing on the Porsche model number. This car is more than a mode of transport, however fast and desirable. It’s a bespoke homage to the greatness that these air cooled machines represented.
If you think we’re over-reacting a little to all this, have a think about what Mr Arsham and his long time collaborator, the mechanic and self taught artist Greg Anagostopolous, have done with their nut and bolt rebuild. For eight long months in Arsham’s own garage facility, the 911 had the full attention of this duo, enhancing and improving on Stuttgart’s already demanding production standards.
Arresting external colourway is Sample Vanilla Yellow, previously used on just the one production Turbo S. Interior is triple stitched green leather by the German expert Justin Placek to high backed seats and just about anything else you can touch. Arsham Studio created gauges to match those of the Porsche bespoke programme. It’s more than just the aesthetics, though, as you might expect. The 911’s flat six has been treated to a full makeover too. Its 3.6-litre capacity is now 3.8-litre courtesy a variety of upgrades such as Carillo connecting rods and specialist machined cylinder heads. There’s a rebuilt transmission and a bespoke suspension system. This is going to be one fast artwork.
Artistic vision
Daniel Arsham has a history of auto-art, creating a range of 911s: from resin models, some of them artfully eroded, to other full size working examples. He’s worked with major brands such as Adidas and created a film series envisaging a future world after ecological collapse. All very serious. However you might - if thinking of adding this 911 C2S to your collection - want to put aside any thought of the seven-foot statue Daniel Arsham created for Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg depicting Priscilla Chan, Zuckerberg’s wife, great art being in the eye of the beholder.
So what do you need to set aside to put an artist-created last of the line 911 in your driveway? High end specialists Canepa are selling this Arsham 911, but you’ll have to contact their extensive Santa Cruz dealership for a price. Given it’s the sort of place with a museum attached, it’s not going to be cheap. A looked after final year 993 era 911 can cost anything from £150,000 to £450,000. And that’s without Mr Arsham’s intervention. Based on previous auction records for the artist’s auto-work you might want to rustle up at least £700,000 before calling. Glass of red at a California wine estate while viewing your new artwork? Don’t mind if we do.
