Chopped up 1966 Porsche 911 Is One Seriously Unique Build
This chopped up 1966 Porsche 911 is nicknamed "Half11" and made its debut at SEMA.
Not for Purists
As a general rule, we're largely purists when it comes to Porsche - while we enjoy a nicely done 911 restomod, we also typically prefer to see vintage models left largely alone, because why mess with what is already essentially perfect, not to mention highly collectible? However, we're certainly intrigued by this wild creation - nicknamed "Half11" - that was built by the twin brothers Iliya and Nikita Bridan of The Arsenale.
Photos: The Arsenale
Half and Half
The Half11 recently showed up at the 2023 SEMA Show, and needless to say, it was quite the attention grabber, even among hundreds of other wild creations. Its name, as one might have noticed by now, stems from the fact that the entire front half of the car came from a 1966 911, but the rear portion was created from scratch by the brothers.
Photos: The Arsenale
Vintage Racer Vibes
The idea here was to mimic the looks of a 1970s race car, and it certainly does a good job of that. Sitting ultra-low to the ground and packing massive Avon tires underneath, it definitely looks like a vintage racer, one that would be right at home on any track decades ago.
Photos: The Arsenale
One Complaint
Ultimately, the only thing that truly let us down about Half11 is what powers it - GM's LS3 V8, which the Ukrainian brothers chose because of its simplicity, reliability, and power potential. Regardless, we'd obviously rather see something like a flat-six - or preferably, a 12-cylinder of some kind - nestled in the rear.
Photos: The Arsenale
Living the Dream
What's particularly interesting about the Bridan twins, however, is that they grew up wanting to be car designers, but their family didn't have the money to send them to a proper school for that craft after fleeing the country and landing in Canada. Eventually, however, they wound up attending a design school in Italy, which is where they learned to hone that craft and showed a knack for it from the start.
Photos: The Arsenale
Street Legal
Those efforts led to jobs at a variety of automakers including Honda, Toyota, Genesis, Canoo, and General Motors, all before the twins decided to open their very own shop in Torrance, California. There, they dreamed up and built Half11, which is actually street-legal and designed to pull double duty on the road and at the track.
Photos: The Arsenale
Prototype to Production
For now, Half11 is just a one-off prototype, but the brothers plan to sell it to the public. With 650 horsepower on tap and just 1,850 pounds to move, they say it'll do 0-60 in 2.5 seconds and top out at 200 mph, all with a price tag of $600k. Buyers can choose from Speedster or coupe variants with custom bodywork, or even carbon fiber panels to shave more weight. It's certainly an intriguing machine, and one that we imagine will stoke the interest of at least a small handful of people looking for something truly different.
Photos: The Arsenale