1971 Porsche 911T – Exceptional Fully Sorted

1971 Porsche 911 T “Blow” film car.

A few years back while perusing the world wide web I found this 1971 911T still wearing original paint . Okay, look! That’s my story and I’m sticking with it. The owner down in the Florida panhandle told me the car had a cameo appearance in the movie “Blow”, staring Johnny Depp. So I bought it sight unseen. The car! Not the movie. We sent our driver down to pick up the car, and sure enough, it was original paint albeit a bit tired.

Back at our shop the plot thickened. We began service and detailing and it turned out to be an expensive proposition. The paint was so thin that a proper cleaning and waxing rubbed through to the primer. While servicing the car that “ran great’ we discovered that this too was an exaggeration. The interior was “all original and in fairly good condition.” Folks, what I am describing to you is called a rabbit hole. You never know haw deep they go, the forks they have, or what direction they turn. If you’ve seen the film, you get the concept of twists and turns.

Overall the car was a good original, and virtually rust free example. The body was straight and damage free, and since we could see the original primer through the paint, we also could see the body’s condition was good as well. The chassis was original and the suspension appeared to have never been touched. The engine, while running, had poor leak down numbers. The interior, while original had worn carpet and stained headliner. You can see how what happens when you travel down the rabbit hole.

Since the engine was coming out anyway that was as good of a place as any to start. The original engine was completely rebuilt, chain tensoner update completed, and everything was set for a fresh start. The car came from the factory with A/C (Not hooked up) and with all this global warming stuff going around, maybe that can’t hurt. The body had its dings; We removed glass and trim and repainted the body in its original Blood Orange color. When the car came out of paint, we attacked the chassis. We rebuilt the suspension, new bushings, struts, etc, while we were at it At this point in the process, one of our great clients saw the car, and had to have it.

As the car was going together and we finished one area, the next always appeared to need more attention. Think rabbit hole, or the movie plot twists. The interior was next. We sourced a perfect dash pad along with new door pockets and carpet and installed the lot. We cleaned the original headliner. The interior looked good but somehow it was still lacking that “wow” factor. We installed a new, slightly smaller, thicker-wrapped steering wheel with the cleaner-looking “Hockey Puck” horn button. We accompanied this with a new set of hounds tooth sport seats. We were getting closer to the “wow”.

Our client wanted a stereo he could actually listen too, so our next course of action was undertaken. The stereo had to be easily removable and yet nothing could be cut up. We did the front speakers in a way so they could slip in and out of the pockets in the lower kick-panel pockets. The rear speaker simply clipped on the luggage strap hooks on the rear package shelf. The stereo itself had a removable face plate and a cover that mounts over it so you can’t even tell it was there.  That was pretty “wow” by itself.

This car finished up with a much better and happier ending than the Johnny Depp character in the film. We ended up with a spectacular 911T that is fully and completely sorted. This 911 is ready to be enjoyed for years to come and at this point it needs nothing but a new owner looking for a terrific driver with a brief history in the movies.