1989 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 964
In Dave Goodwin’s pursuit of Porsche perfection, this 1989 964 Carrera 2 has undergone serious transformation...
Words Dan Furr
Photography Dan Sherwood
TRIM WHEN YOU’RE WINNING
A brilliantly personalised 911 964 Carrera 2.
Those of us lucky enough to photograph and write for this magazine get to sample some of the very best 911s out there. From insanely good road car restorations to rare historic racers, hot rods and everything in between, we’re privileged to be able to experience these cars and share them with you in our pages. What’s so special about a 1989 911 964 Carrera 2, then? This is hardly the rarest of classic Porsches, after all. You don’t need to travel too far back in time for the 964 to be considered runt of the 911 litter. In recent years, however, with a new generation of enthusiasts entering the Porsche scene, the 964 has found favour among a fresh pool of buyers, primarily those who proudly pinned posters of the G-series successor to their bedroom wall in the mid-1990s. It’s also important to acknowledge the 964’s role in what has become a massive restomod scene — in decades past, this generation of 911 could be bought at relatively low cost, making it the perfect starting point for a personalised Porsche. Many of these builds went on to achieve high-profile recognition, further raising the 964’s profile. Big-budget backdates, wild restomods, decent media exposure. The 964 had come of age.
Of all the 964-based restomods assembled in recent times, none have captured the imagination of the automotive world as much as those produced by Singer Vehicle Design. Outlandish styling, ambitious engineering and, it must be said, eyewatering costs are hallmarks of the California brand’s builds. We’re first to admit they’re not to everyone’s liking. Moreover, with each successive ‘reimagined 911’ (not only from Singer Vehicle Design, but also those pieced together by the long line of copycat companies trying to get a slice of the pie by producing similarly bold 964 restorations) comes fresh speculation about whether the 911 restomod sector is becoming a tad overheated.
LASER WORK CAN BE SEEN IN THE FORM OF CUSTOM HEADLINING PERFORATIONS AND INTRICATELY PATTERNED SPEAKER SOUND HOLES IN THE DOOR CARDS
Are we observing a money-rich trend destined to end with a significant pool of 964s viewed as tacky? Many of the automotive modifying fashions popular in the 1990s and 2000s haven’t aged well, and though there’s no denying the high standard of workmanship invested in today’s high-profile 911 restomods, it’s not unreasonable to suggest history likes to repeat itself. In other words, we could be fast heading to a point in time when these cars seem a bit, well, naff.
Whatever your view on the matter, it’s true to say 964 restomods generally offer something different. As marque enthusiasts, this is something we can all appreciate, even if the finished Porsche isn’t to our individual tastes. Ultimately, providing the work is finished to a high standard, there’s much to applaud.
Besides, the world would be a very boring place if we all drove the same cars, wouldn’t it?!
A desire to present something unconventional, but not jarring in its presentation, leads many independent marque specialists to experiment with new ideas. A company’s privately owned demonstration vehicle presents the proverbial blank canvas, serving as a rolling showcase of what the business is capable of producing for its clients. This train of thought leads us to the radiant red Carrera 2 you see on the pages before you.
“I bought the car in November 2020,” says Dave Goodwin, founder of Dave the Trimmer, the Bedfordshire-based automotive interior specialist responsible for some of the very best Porsche retrims we’ve seen in recent times. “I’d wanted to secure 964 ownership for a long time and spotted this car advertised as available for purchase from classic and modern-classic sports car sales outfit, Bure Valley Classics, located in Norfolk,” he adds. A well-known car in 964 circles, the immaculately presented Porsche had been subjected to an engine rebuild at Strasse, a gearbox overhaul at Ninemeister and a major service and new clutch at Heritage Autowerks, the official UK service centre for Singer Vehicle Design restorations.
The accompanying large folder of paperwork documented comprehensive servicing and maintenance (chiefly at Porsche Centres Wilmslow, Chester and Leeds), all past MOT certificates and, importantly, invoices for all work carried out during the previous three decades. Receipts for recent jobs outlined more than three hundred hours spent on bodywork and paint, hence the Porsche’s pristine presentation. Even so, this stunning 911 remained with Bure Valley Classics longer than many would-be buyers anticipated. We ask Dave his thoughts on the matter.
“The interior was to blame,” he laughs. “It looked as though it had been snowing in the cabin.”
THE COMPANY HAS COMPLETED IN EXCESS OF FIVE HUNDRED CUSTOM WHEEL ORDERS FOR CLIENTS IN MORE THAN THIRTY COUNTRIES
It’s important to note the car had been retrimmed in vanilla Nappa soft leather to a high standard at the previous owner’s request, but with the exception of the lower dashboard (and its 993 knee roll), all surfaces were unusually light in colour. “The previous owner asked me to quote for the work, but ended up using a different trimmer,” Dave shrugs, before confirming the Porsche was in exceptionally good condition when he inspected it in his workshop. “I knew this 964 had been well looked after and could see huge potential to do something special with the interior, but the then owner decided to venture down an alternative path with his preferred supplier.”
When the Guards Red coupe presented itself for sale through Bure Valley Classics, Dave recognised the opportunity to bring to life the ideas he’d previously considered for the car’s interior. “The near white cabin was very much to the previous owner’s personal taste,” he accepts. “The work had only recently been completed, but any prospective buyer was faced with the threat of an expensive retrim if they desired a less arresting finish. Not many people are prepared to shell out for a new interior the moment they’ve bought a 964, which is why I suspect the car didn’t sell as quickly as might have otherwise been expected. That said, the previous owner lavished plenty of care and attention on this Porsche during his time with the car.”
THE LOW LIFE
He highlights a wealth of wellconsidered upgrades, including KW Variant 1 coilovers, chassis tuning incorporating 964 Carrera RS ride height, new N-rated Michelin Pilot Sport tyres, a Porsche Technik exhaust system with G-pipe, Cup mirrors and wheels, a Clubsport steering wheel, a Steve Wong ECU chipset, rear windscreen wiper delete, de-locked 993 door handles, HID headlights (now with 356 lenses), limited-slip differential, modified bumpers with shortened registration plate recesses, Carrera RS brake cooling duct inserts and new rubber seals throughout. Updated in-car entertainment equipment also contributed to what was on offer — a Kenwood under-seat subwoofer and a mix of Hertz and Focal speakers promised to pump out Dave’s favourite tunes from a retro-styled head unit.
After a fruitful conversation with Bure Valley Classics founder, Oli Tappin, a deal was done — Dave was finally the proud owner of a 964. Beauty, however, is in the eye of the beholder. “I don’t want your readers thinking the interior was junked,” he smiles. “On the contrary, I sold the front and rear seats to a fellow 964 owner, who really admires the way they look. Besides, I’d already decided to fit Recaro A8 buckets. The vanilla-trimmed parts were therefore of little use to me.” Paired with 993 rear pews, the big-bolstered Recaros were a solid starting point for a custom cabin. There was only one problem. “I had no idea what I wanted to do, other than something different,” Dave admits. “I had three weeks of sleepless nights on account of my brain doing overtime trying to come up with something no other automotive trimmer had previously presented.” Fortunately, he had time to play with — almost as soon as he bought the car, he handed it to Autobodykraft in Hockliffe for a round of corrective paintwork, highlighting one of the rear wheel arches and the engine lid as showing small signs of surface corrosion. For good measure, the rear light bowls were promptly replaced by classic car restoration and metalwork specialist, DH Engineering.
PAIRED WITH 993 REAR PEWS, THE BIG-BOLSTERED RECAROS WERE A SOLID STARTING POINT FOR A CUSTOM CABIN
It hit him like a bolt from the blue. “Pasha!” he cries. “I liked the idea of taking influence from a distinctive OEM finish, but reasoned it would need to be exhibited in unexpected fashion.” His first experiments involved trying to impress the psychedelic pattern — originally printed onto fine velour seat coverings and door panels for the 911, 924 and 928 models in the late 1970s — into leather, but no matter how hard he tried, the desired results couldn’t be achieved. Laser-cutting into Alcantara, however, was a different story. “My team has overseen a fair amount of laser work for client projects,” he explains. “Ordinarily, we’d used this technology for creating precise cut-outs in fabrics or leather for custom components or door speakers, but when experimenting with different laser temperatures, I realised we could laser-etch complex patterns into Alcantara.” The soft, synthetic, suede-like material has become a hugely popular fixture of modern sports car cabins, not least Porsche’s modern GTS range of products, and has been retrospectively applied to many of the Stuttgart brand’s legacy models on the aftermarket.
Dave provided his appointed laser-operating supplier with a metre-square of Pasha fabric from which to take measurements for the creation of bespoke CAD drawings. The work was time-consuming, not least because few of the pattern’s ‘blocks’ are the same size. Adding extra complexity, Dave wanted the design to ‘fade’ as it reached the fronts of the seat cushions. “Notwithstanding the many hours it took to create the required patterns in the application-specific design software, laser-treating the material was a laborious process. The door cards, for example, plus each seat centre section, took four hours per panel.”
The Recaro logo has been impressed into the lower seat shrouds using traditional heat-embossing methods. Indeed, the more you look, the more you realise just how much work has gone into this 964’s interior — with the exception of air vent vanes, switchgear, the handbrake button, pedals, red-edged seat belts and the Built by Basil custom gear knob, almost everything is trimmed in Alcantara, including the dash clock rings, safety belt retainers, handbrake handle (wrapped three times), ignition switch surround, seat side brackets and even the seat release handles. The steering wheel has been covered in the same non-reflective material. “It’s a genuine MOMO Porsche Design three-spoke,” Dave assures us. “I’d wanted one for a while, but I wasn’t prepared to pay the extortionate sums sellers tend to want for examples of this particular Porsche steering wheel in good condition. I remember getting an eBay watch list alert while I was away on a camping trip with my family. A seller in Italy had listed this steering wheel at low cost. It was missing its horn pad, which was an optional extra when new, but this wasn’t enough to stop me from committing to purchase.” In fact, he already had a plan up his sleeve. “One of my customers agreed to loan me the original horn pad from his 911’s Porsche Design steering wheel. I had the part scanned and then commissioned 3D printing of fifteen units, thereby enabling me to sell the spares to cover the costs of development.” The Alcantara spokes of the steering wheel were then heatembossed with both the Porsche Design and Dave the Trimmer logos.
Elsewhere in the cabin, laser work can be seen in the form of custom headlining perforations and intricately patterned speaker sound holes in the door cards, where you’d ordinarily expect to view plastic grilles. Above these bespoke touches are door handles created from billet aluminium. “I know many 964 modifiers opt for RS-inspired blank door cards with fabric pull straps, but I like the presence of door pockets, grab handles and door catch release buttons,” Dave confirms. “With this in mind, I’ve created custom handles from solid billet aluminium. Each handle features six holes, a design element to reflect the fact a 911 is powered by a six-cylinder engine. I’ve also added a Dave the Trimmer logo to custom billet door releases.” The same branding can be seen in the seat backs and on the dash dials, the latter rebuilt and customised by Reap Automotive Design and joined by a clock bearing the logo of wristwatch brand, Omologato.
A Blaupunkt Bremen SQR 46 DAB head unit now takes centre stage in the Pasha-patterned dash. As mentioned earlier in this issue of 911 & Porsche World, this single-DIN delight serves as a modern digital audio receiver, whilst wearing looks straight out of the 1980s, making it perfect for a 964 interior blending old and new. “The work my team and I invested in this project has resulted in the reimagining of a classic Porsche pattern by giving it a twentyfirst century twist. It’s also an interior which has enabled us to expand the scope of what we can do with modern technology and materials in the creation of truly bespoke automotive interiors for our customers,” Dave beams, proudly.
Speaking of taking a classic design and reinterpreting it for the modern age, your eyes will doubtless have been drawn to this compelling Carrera 2’s extraordinary wheels. A take on the classic ‘teledial’ made famous by the 911 SC and Porsche’s transaxle family of cars, they’re a completely new three-piece split-rim construction from Canadian wheel producer, Augment Wheel Company, and are manufactured from forged billet 6061-T6 aluminium. Many classic OEM wheels fall short in the ‘here and now’, when bigger diameters and wider widths are preferred. Augment’s Dial-style wheels mimic the original Porsche design very well. They’re seen here in eighteeninch staggered fitment (ten inches at the rear, eight and a half at the nose), enough to confuse purists. Dave requested polished lips and a brushed aluminium finish for the faces. Reverse-mounting hardware hides the wheel bolts.
Augment Wheel Company was established by Ontario-based sports car nut, Dan Pye, back in 2016. He found himself struggling with the customisation and personalisation of then available wheels and looked to develop a process and solution to address the pain points he experienced as a consumer. Split rims have gained popularity in recent years, and while several businesses in the United States handle parts demand and fulfilment very well, Dan recognised no such solution in Canada. Fast-forward to today, and Augment’s Oakville warehouse stocks hundreds of inner and outer wheel parts for some of the most popular of today’s wheel brands, including BBS, SSR, HRE, Kinesis and Work, to name a few.
The company also stocks associated hardware, such as blind assembly bolts, premium aluminium valve stems and titanium wheel bolts and lug nuts. For custom forged wheels, like those seen on Dave’s 964, Augment reverse engineers many OEM designs, including a variety of Porsche styles, to produce completely bespoke wheel designs ranging from fifteen to twenty-two inches in diameter in two- or three-piece configurations. To date, the company has completed in excess of five hundred custom wheel orders for clients in more than thirty countries, with host vehicles ranging from street machines to huge-horse-power drag monsters.
The awesome Augment wheels on Dave’s car are wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport (225/40/18 front and 255/35/18 rear) tyres and have an offset of ET45 in each corner. Peeking out from the brushed wheel centres are bright red brake calipers, recently rebuilt and powdercoated. The flat-six’s cooling fan was colour-matched at the same time. “I don’t intend to mess about with the engine,” Dave tells us, acknowledging how peppy the air-cooled boxer is following the previous owner’s decision to install aftermarket ECU chips altering fuelling, a move yielding more power.
“It’s plenty quick enough as is,” he adds. “I do want to add electric air-conditioning, though. This car didn’t come with air-con from factory, which makes for a very hot cabin in the summer. I’m also keen to update the headlamps.” He cites The Lighting Guru’s 964 LED headlights, which ape the look of fancy modern Porsche LED Matrix illumination, as being at the top of his wish list.
Looking at this gorgeous Guards Red riot of a Porsche, it’s difficult to accept the 964 was once the ‘great unloved’ of the 911 world. How times change! Far from being down in the doldrums, the 993’s predecessor has blossomed into the go-to air-cooled 911, offering all the charm and styling of a classic Porsche, but with modern levels of reliability, power and the potential for serious personalisation. Dave’s superb Carrera 2 ably demonstrates the point. Special? You’d better believe it.
Above Expect to see Dave and his exquisite 964 out and about across the coming show season.
Above Bespoke features abound, from the speaker holes to heat embossing of various logos.
Below Brakes have been fully refurbished.
Above The air-cooled flat-six’s output is higher than standard thanks to aftermarket ECU tuning chips.
Below Ride height is lower than standard thanks to the installation of KW Variant 1 coilovers.
Above Eighteeninch split rims are a custom take on the classic ‘teledial’.
Below Fibreglass frunk liner has been trimmed in Alcantara to match the interior.
Above and below Modern take on Pasha is a triumph of laser work applied to super-soft Alcantara and is complemented by red double stitching throughout the car’s cabin.
Above Bumpers are modified to accept shorter plates.
Below No area of the interior has been left untouched, as you’d expect from a trimmer using the car as a showcase of what his team can do