1985 M491 Coupe Now Backdated Hotrod

We bought this 1985 Carrera with the M491 option as a stalled project from a friend. He bought the car out of Seattle a few years back, as a stock Carrera with 88K miles, making this the 3rd 491 car he had at one time. I had bought the orange 84 below from him also, all of them were red with black interiors. He had a collection of parts and a desire to build an IROC style hotrod with bigger brakes than the factory turbo brakes and larger 17" wheel and tire combo. The car was brought to us with all suspension removed and we were asked to repaint the car, delete the factory sunroof and mount the iroc bumpers. A few months later the car was returned and he had gone ahead and mounted all the suspension and brakes, that is where the car was when we purchased it earlier this year (2018).

Originally we had hoped to have it backdated in time for the Luftgekuhlt 5 event in May, but time was not on our side so we went ahead and finished it out as an iroc. However I was able to change a few things out that were at the top of my list, returning the stock turbo brakes and a set of 15' wheels with Michelin TB rubber. As luck would have it Paul Eddelston at Braid Wheels USA had a set of turbo offset 9&11 inch wheels in the rsr style finish. The brakes on the other hand did not go as easily, we sent them to PMB to have them completely renewed and it came down to the wire, receiving them with just 2 days to go before the show!

Luftgekuhlt 5 was another amazing event this year, the event has grown every year to become one of the premier Porsche events worldwide every year. A big thanks goes out to Patrick Long who along with Howie Idelson are the impressarios that put on the show. We had 3 cars at the show and it was a big success for us as well. I wish that there was more time in the day as there are always old friends to catch up with and new friends to meet and the time just goes by all to quickly!

After luft we started tearing the car apart as we would have to replace the bumpers with early style bumpers, remove and repaint the doors after we welded all the holes up that were covered by the large aero mirrors. Front fenders were modified to long hood spec and repainted and probably one of our signature items the steel short hood is used and converted to a long hood by welding on a new panel and finishing it out to look like a factory piece. While the car was in pieces the main chassis was sent to Autobahn Interiors for a new carpet installation, those guys really know Porsches and do top notch work. Also while this was all taking place we had all the trim sent out to be stripped of the black powder coat and redone in gleaming chrome. I personally prefer the chrome finish over the factory bright dip anodize and it is my hotrod so we will be doing it my way.

Well that is it for now stay tuned for the next segment as we finish it up and get it out in the wild for it's first event, the 356 Club Concours de Elegance at Bella Colina country club in beautiful San Clemente.

*POST UPDATE.

Since the last post, we finished the backdate on the red rsr. Once we finished the backdate, we took a bunch of photos and videos and put the car on BaT's online auction and successfully sold the car. The new owner was kind enough to let us bring the car to Monterey for car week and show it around.

We arrived in Monterey Monday afternoon and met the transporter that had brought both the 1967 Bahama orange hot rod and the Guards red hot rod. We prepped the car for the first show which was at Gordon McCalls Motorworks Revival on Wednesday evening. Gordon hosts such a spectacular event that is considered the kickoff to Monterey Car Week and we dropped the car off before noon Wednesday along with the Bahama Orange and could not wait to see where he decided to place the 2 cars. Gordon really puts a lot of thought into his event and the placement of all the vehicles there including aircraft, automobiles, motorcycles food and bar stations. When we arrived we could not find the car after quite a bit of searching on the tarmac, so we started off towards the hangar and there she was alongside the brand new Ruf Yellowbird, what a fantastic placement! We had a great time at the event thank you Team McCall!

Next event was the Porsche Werks Reunion put on by the PCA which is held on Friday at the Corral di Tierra country club. A lot of beautiful Porsches out on the field here! At the end of the event we were able to get 3 of our cars together for some pictures, the Riviera Blue, Guards Red and the Bahama Orange hot rods all in a row.

Saturday we had to meet the transporter to send the car off to her new owner in Mississippi, it was a great week!