Every so often, we’re presented with a mystery, and this is one of the more intriguing ones. A post in the r/whatisthiscar subreddit is gaining some traction because it appears to depict a car looking a whole lot like an early Porsche 911 GT1 potentially being flown in for America’s fanciest car event. According to the title of the post, this thing was spotted on the tarmac at Los Angeles International Airport, and given that Monterey Car Week is about to kick off soon, it could be headed to the west coast’s prestige automotive celebration.
However, if you look closely, there are some details on this car that don’t look 911 GT1-like at all. For instance, the vents in the quarter panels are a completely different shape than the single-arc apertures on the 911 GT1. In addition, there’s no wing on the LAX car, its quarter windows don’t finish in a rounded manner, and it uses a traditional five-lug bolt pattern.
As such, I have suspicions that this isn’t a 911 GT1 but something else entirely, something likely crafted by incredibly talented coachbuilders. After all, Porsche only made 25 road-legal 911 GT1 examples, and only two came with 993-like front bodywork. So who could’ve done this?
So apparently someone on Reddit caught an unknown one-off Porsche model at LAX that is almost certainly headed for a reveal at Monterey Car Week. https://t.co/MJA5VxCxav pic.twitter.com/SmMBPQIMyu
— Zerin Dube (@SpeedSportLife) August 9, 2024
Well, with Monterey Car Week kicking off soon, some of the world’s best Porsche builders will be converging on Monterey, Calif. to exhibit new creations. We’re talking about brands like Tuthill Porsche, Kalmar, bb-Auto, and Singer.
Heavy-hitters for which a whole lot remains up their sleeves, and those are just the confirmed names so far. This 911 GT1-resembling car might not even come from one of those mentioned companies, but given that it was spotted on the tarmac of LAX, it seems plausible we’ll find out what it really is over the coming days.
So, what do you reckon this unusual Porsche 911 GT1-looking car actually is? Do you reckon someone modified an actual 911 GT1, is there a Boxster hidden deep beneath the coachwork, or is there something else going on entirely? As ever, leave your creative and plotting responses in the comments below.
[Hat-tip to Zerin Dube!]
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I’m surprised no one has questioned this mode of transport yet? I had no idea about this…why the cart? Wouldn’t it be easier to drive it off the plane or whatever?
And have the wheels touch the actual ground? Put miles on the odometer? Madness!
But seriously, maybe you are into something, this thing might not drive on its own, maybe it is some sort of mock up?
That’s the normal way of transporting cars by plane, here are a couple of examples:
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/taking-it-out-for-a-spin-at-600-mph
My guess is the Superlite GT-R that someone bought as a kit and slightly tweaked here and there as they built it?
It seems to have square headlights, but they’re definitely not the same as the ones from the Porsche Mission E. If anything the front end looks more like the Volkswagen W12 Syncro concept. I’m also for some reason getting Shelby American vibes from it, most notably the GR-1. The design is far too clean and free of stupid complex surfaces for it to be something from Porsche.
Could this be another Lotus Elise/Hennessey Venom GT situation?
Best bet: one of the better known Porsche-adjacent tuners/manufacturers (Singer, Ruf, Tuthill, etc.) is building a retro-modern 993 GT1 street version, so a 993 Body with custom front and rear subframes and a Mezger based flat six. Somewhat reminiscent of Kyza’s 996 rendering.
hhhhy’look, y’all are overthinkin’ this
that right there, in front of God and errbody, is parsh
looks like good parsh
but that’s parsh
gott danged shuck darn heck shoot, that’s good parsh
probably
either that or it’s a 1987 Fiero in a fancy costume
Just to make sure, You are planning to send your crack team of investigative journalists to monterey, just a quick bridge ride away from catalina island to uncover the truth and tell us the answer, right? RIGHT?
Surprise! It’s the new mid-engine Mustang!
To paraphrase Adrian, a rich mans garage bauble, move along now.
It’s oversized checked luggage.
That will be $250 please.
Plot twist. A Ferrari, covered in a Porsche body.
Another perfectly good Fiero bites the dust….
Looks like the car from RML announced a few days ago? https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-britishcars/rml-channels-hypercars-with-new-911-project/48834
Another toy for the hyper rich?
Looks like this question has been answered.
The RML car in that link has different spoiler, bumper, wheels, front fender, no side view mirrors, etc. These are completely different cars.
It’s also a rendering, so of course the actual vehicle may vary.
The rendering is of a current gen 992 based car as indicated by the headlights. The car coming off the airplane looks quite a bit more like a GT1 which has not much in common with the 992.
You might be right after all! https://x.com/Tuthill_Porsche/status/1823041758063956434
The mystery car’s roof’s different, doesn’t have the cutout that trails behind the wheel well, doesn’t have the separate front air channels, has a vertically shorter roof, and the turns signals are integrated into the bumper 993 Carrera style.
It looks like the lovechild of a Porsche 911 GT1 and a Mercedes CLK GTR.
Obviously this is DT’s next ill advised purchase. For his girlfriend Elise.
Waiting for the click bait article here.
“I bought an expensive PORSCHE for my girlfriend, and here’s all the shit wrong with it.”
It’s pretty obvious to me that the render shows something based on a 991 or 992 (take a look at the headlights and greenhouse).
Whatever 911 that is on the tarmac is pre-1998, the cutline of the door jogs forward below the A-pillar, a distinctive trait on air-cooled 911s.
My guess is that it’s another RUF SCR (the one that is completely new, and not based on an existing 911 VIN)
RUF was my first thought as well.
Even though I doubt it’s it, my brain keeps screaming panoz at me. Haven’t found one that looks exactly like this though.
Maybe something from RUF or Ray Mallock in the UK?