Likely for the same reason people 'remodel' houses by leaving a single wall standing and tearing everything else down. Less paperwork.

 

These guys recreate a 904 on a 914 chassis

https://carbuzz.com/aerfal-automotiv...04-recreation/

 

For the VIN, otherwise they would be a manufacturer and all the rules with that, Crash test, reverse camera, SMOG systems etc etc etc so then it’s not possible to be a Singer ie lightweight high strung motor.

 

Yes for the VIN, but looking at their set up, investment and profit, I guess they could do it, RUF does it and Germany one of the most restrictive country.

 

Singer is hardly RUF. Not analogous at all.

 

That is the biggest issue and so much false info is being spread. If you look at the coupes only and not the specialty WB, RS or RSA variants there weren't many made. I have been looking at production info for a long time and there is a lot of misinformation. The best I can come up with is after subtracting vin numbers 001-060 from every model, MY both uS and RoW made it reduces the numbers considerably.

I have 21,903 RoW coupes made and 5106 US spec. So a total of 27,009 964's in both C4 and C2 Manual and tiptronic configurations. Nearly half were C4's and a fair number of tips were made. In total I estimate roughly 13k C2's in both manual and tip with roughly >3k being tips. I had been following the 964 since 2000. By then I already knew of countless coupes being chopped up and parted out. The values of 964's plummeted to the point you could pick up a running C4 with needs and about 80k miles for between $10-15k. So many were being parted out especially in the US. By 14 I was buying some for as little as $10k and I ended up selling off the engines and trans for about half that. Several of the local shops were parting out 3-4 a month for a few years. Times how many shops nation wide that were doing the same. Blacbyrd over on Pelican was parting them out at a rate of 3-4 a month as well. He was a good source for cheap parts back then. If they weren't being parted out many were being converted into Club racers or DE cars. So far modified they would never be able to be converted back. Many were crashed and so many were just abandoned. Allowed to sit and rot away in some field someplace. My estimate by around 2010 that at least 33% if not more of the US spec cars were gone by then or had S titles or other issues. By 24 Singer had chopped up well over 500 of the remaining US coupes. They continue to chop up 4 a week and have no end in sight. Many of what remains is either a tub Singer won't touch or a car that keeps being flipped over and over. Many are bought modified and sold again.

If you consider that there are over 20 other companies chopping up 964's for backdates, Restomods or other modifications it leaves relatively few. I have 4 964's and a 965. One of mine is a roller I haven't figured out what to do with it yet the other is a complete wide body RSR tribute, A full dedicated track car that will never be anything but a track car, and the fourth is a 93 C2 I did a slick top conversion on plus a lot of work. I can point out hundreds of others that have been modified to look like a 964 but aren't stock and I still get people letting me know how they recently crashed or totaled theirs. My guess is there are roughly 1k at most of the remaining US spec Coupes that are still original. A number I wouldn't touch. A very small number considering I see people spend up to buy a pristine example only to send it off to singer to be chopped up. How many RoW remains to be seen but I suspect those numbers aren't that much and at the rate we are going there will be more singers than stock C2's remaining soon.

They are now using turbos for the turbo study so there is another super rare car being molested so it can sit in someones collection and sold with little to no miles on it.

 

Wow, I've not seen an analysis like that, super interesting. My unmodified '91 C4 Couple manual is just hanging out in my garage, guess it has less company these days.

 

Very glad to have saved my 92 C2 from the racing life before it was too far gone.

 

And if you do the same math for MY92 around 5000 C2/C4 were built. Divide them like 50/50 minus tip's there were probably around 2-2500 manual C2s. Meaning they are almost as rare as the 92RS with around 1900 built. My car is even a C2 without a sunroof or rear wiper making it even rarer :-)

 

I have 4784 RoW Coupes and 665 US spec coupes made. Of the 665 US spec coupes 45 were US Spec Cup Cars so 625 US spec stock coupes both C4 and C2. Although If you use Jürgen Barth's numbers there may have been as many as 4032 C4's made that year. However, I cannot confirm this info which is full of errors and it might be less but hard to say. Also it would be nice to determine how many of these were RHD vs LHD. Having a non sunroof factory example does make it even more rare than most. Although the US was optioned with the sunroof as standard eq a few made it in. Maybe 50 including the US spec cup cars. (Not including the RSA's) I do find it interesting how many RoW cars were optioned with a sunroof.

Not sure how many turbos will be chopped up for the turbo study. I have heard 100 so far? Although I don't believe all used turbo bodies for the build. Only 3863 3.3L's were made (823 US spec + 20 ANDIAL built S2's) and 1407 3.6's (350 US spec + 56 S trim) . This includes specialty Turbo S models. When you think nearly 19k 930's were made it makes you wonder how valuable will a pristine 964/965 be in the future? As a collector or a donor? Eventually good cars will be hard for these companies to source. So few of the remaining coupes qualify for a singer build.

The 964 was the rarest and IMO the best of the air-cooled 911's made by a good margin. Not that there is a bad air-cooled 911 just it had the right mix of modern engineering, safety and was a decent performer for the day. With slight mods you can really appreciate the platform even more. There is a reason so many companies chose the 964 to modify but sadly it will one day be the demise of these great pieces of Porsche history.

Disclaimer: I can't say my info is 100% accurate but it is close. I have been researching these for well over 20 years and still find an occasional outlier that is way out of sequence or the occasional 718 coded car which had the vin changed and was double counted. If only Porsche would release the actual info which they have refused to do for some reason. They have released production info for most all the others but for some reason the 964 remains an enigma.

 

I don't get the hate for Singer, although admittedly I'm not that familiar with the 964/965 to begin with. What they are doing seems entirely copacetic with Porsche's own ethos ("I couldn't find the sports car of my dreams, so I built it.")

Is it just because the Singers are too expensive to be driven like normal Porsches? That seems to be true of most of the air-cooled classics anymore. If they are all going to end up as museum pieces, they might as well be the best museum pieces they can be, no?

 

It isn't about the money. I have many friends who own them and many other equally or more expensive cars. It doesn't follow the ethos. They aren't building a new car they are modifying an existing car that at the end of the day is a well setup 964 with a CF skin and flashy Ferrari like appointments.

If they made a hundred thousand 964's then I would have no issue. But the 964 was the lowest production 911 of any year by a large margin. After 25 years of 911 ownership I decided the 964 was the only 911 for me. Others I know felt the same. So many 964's were lost over the years long before singer. They and the others converting them to EV's and things they aren't are destroying what few remain of one of the best 911's made and a platform that an enthusiast can enjoy and build upon to their specific tastes not just built from a catalog for the uber rich to show off with. They have chopped up some of the finest examples. Any 964 can be made to perform equally as well for far far less. What they do is what any good restoration or build should go through. Nothing special. Do like Ruf and make their own chassis and crash test it. Make it worth the Million dollar price tag. If Ruf can do it for less and build a better car why can't they? Then I would be impressed. Otherwise it is just IMO an overpriced kit car. Don't destroy the remaining few 964's just to sit by 90% of the owners and never be seen or heard from again. I have seen singers up close and helped work on them. I've driven them. Are they nice? Yes. But are they worth the price tag and the sacrifice of another 964? IMO not close.

 

I have known Rob for 20 odd years, before Singer, I have toured the factory and seen the attention to detail and the finished product. The cars and the performance of same are pretty wild what strikes me most though is I have never seen one with over 1000 miles on the clock. They seem to change hands like Meme coins amongst the uber rich without seeing much asphalt.

Anthony's point about being able to build a similar performer for a heck of a lot less and still be a recognizable 964 is well taken. But more to the point, if the 964 platform continues to be the starting point of choice for Singer et al, at what point to they outnumber stock 964s?

P.S. For those of you on this coast if you have not heard, Singer was the senior partner in the purchase of Willow Springs Raceway here in Rosamond CA.

 

Sad that they cut up the best. Should be rescued 964's They can even be ReVIN'ed by their state.
The Unibody can be recreated today. Porsche is providing all the parts. May be 40 hours to build for medium experience.
Paper work can be submitted to your state as a 1991 Constructed Singer VIN number.
But they are just lazy and cutting up our collector cars.

 

Singer only uses a standard 964 as the donor. Whether it is a Classic, DLS, Turbo, DLS Turbo, or the Carrera Coupe.