DP Motorsport 911 Silver Surfer 3.6
The backdating of Porsche 911 models has been booming in recent years. One supplier is dp Motorsport from Overath near Cologne in Germany. In earlier decades, this company concentrated mainly on the construction and servicing of racing cars. After the change of the company management from founder Ekkehard Zimmermann to his son Patrick, the main focus is more on the creation of the most drivable 911s possible according to customer requirements. The range of services offered extends from the installation of a sports suspension to complete conversions such as the Silver Surfer, which we would like to introduce in more detail here.
A Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 built in 1985 served as the basis, making this vehicle part of the so-called G-series with the controversially discussed bumpers, which were introduced in 1974 to comply with the stricter US crash regulations. Many Porsche fans still don’t like this look much compared to the original design, which is why the trend towards ‘backdating’ and ‘restomodding’ is a little more understandable. After all, companies like Singer, Kaege or even dp Motorsport understand their craft well enough to convert a late car to the look of the original models. For the customer of the Silver Surfer the focus was on a sports car inspired by the 911 S/T. With fender extensions and without the rear spoiler, which was only introduced from the RS and RSR models onwards, this car is visually quite authentic. New parts are the front bumper, the indicator side light elements, the front fenders, the front hood (matching the lock holder of the G-model), open side sills without underbody protection, the rear bumper with short horns as well as chrome on the rear-view mirrors, side window surrounds, door handles and other details. For the finished body, the customer chose a ‘GT Silver metallic’ paint finish with two foiled, matt black racing stripes. Rear and side windows are made of plexiglass.
The basic vehicle was completely gutted and then rebuilt. In this way dp Motorsport was able to reduce the kerb weight to 940 kilograms. A 3.6-liter six-cylinder boxer engine from the 964 moved into the engine compartment behind the rear axle, delivering 290 hp and 324 newtonmeters of torque. The exhaust gases are discharged to the outside via a race-like exhaust system with fan manifolds. This installation eliminates the need for a heat exchanger and thus also a classic heating system for the interior. Instead, dp Motorsport installed a minimalist ceramic fan heater for the footwell. In addition, a Clubsport coilover suspension from KW, unibal-style bearings for the tie-rod ends and the rear axle swords as well as polyurethane bushings on the front axle control arms were added to the car. The 15-inch Fuchs rims are fitted with with 225/50 tyres at the front and 270/45 tyres at the rear.
Inside, bucket seats with classic lollipop headrests and ‘Scheel’-fabric on the center panels, together with the Momo sports steering wheel, rollbar and Willans four-point seat belts, revive the lightweight design typical of motorsport. Behind the steering wheel with electric power steering there are revised instruments. The floor has been given a lightweight carpet set of black felt. Minimal heating wires are embedded in the windscreen to keep it fog-free.
Images: dp Motorsport
