Daily Slideshow: This House of Porsche is No Hotel California

A town obsessed with classic cars

Reporter Paddy McGrath was on a ride with Brian Henderson, one of the founding fathers of Rotiform who also happens to be one of the most enthusiastic car guys to ever walk the Earth. Why’s that? Well, for one his home garage is a treasure trove of wheels and car parts, including some original Porsche/BBS turbofans. McGrath was planning on doing a photoshoot of Henderson in his garage and the two got to speaking about just how many parts Henderson had in his garage. Henderson, grateful for the compliment, pointed out that while he does collect a good deal of Porsche parts, it’s nothing in comparison to his neighbors. Naturally, this peaked the curiosity of McGrath.

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Meet the neighbors

McGrath, along with Henderson and the crew at Speedhunters took a visit to the neighbors to get an up-close look at the home. The dwelling is owned by Iliya and Nikita Bridan, 28-year-old twin brothers who are Porsche obsessed. They’re both automotive designers, too. Having started both their careers at Toyota, Nikita now works as an Advanced Designer for General Motors, while Iliya works as an Advanced Designer for Honda-Acura.

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Porsches, Porsches, Porsches . . . Everywhere!

The first thing the crew noticed: a Porsche 912 parked in the living room. Upon taking a tour of the house, it was noticed a 911 was parked just outside the residence. And another one. And one more, just to be safe.

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And then there’s the garage

Once they got into the garage, there were another two 911s parked inside. And at the rear/side of the property, lies another (note: this one will remain a donor shell and was picked up due of a price so low, it couldn’t be left behind). So far, that’s four rear-engined Porsches and two vintage European cars outside isn’t a bad collection.

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A car with a story

A ’72 Marlboro-themed 911 is definitely the stand-out car on the property. And it comes with some interesting history: this RS-styled car was purchased by both brothers for their 25th birthday, to celebrate their success of graduating from college, both getting a job with Toyota and clearing their student loans.

There was a problem with the vehicle though: the color. Specifically, neither liked the red. So, the boys spend spent six months on-and-off designing a solution to this problem which resulted in this Marlboro livery.

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What’s with the obsession?

With one complete 911 project, one in progress, a 912 waiting in the wings and a 911 parts car outside, you have to ask: Why so much love for old cars?

Iliya explained succinctly, “I studied transportation design at Arts Centre College of Design, which is ACCD for short. I moved to Italy when I was 15 or 16 years old, to get a head start on car design. There it was such a different way of thinking to the U.S. In Italy it is all about the idea of beauty and creating that. If anything happens to impact that from a functionality point of view, then that’s just the sacrifice you make.”

He continued, “Basically because I am working in the future all the time, the analog nature of old cars is appealing. It’s the simplicity of these cars. I kind of feel like I was born at the wrong time. With the 911, it’s the infinite possibilities. There’s so much history, it’s a timeless thing, and you can take the car in any direction. For me, no other sports car can be as diverse. It’s a car that shouldn’t work, but it does. It’s a car that time should have forgotten. The first car (Marlboro) kind of cemented the fact that I like 911s.”

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Brotherly love and support

One of the aspects of their home and lives that I appreciated the most, is how both brothers enabled each other. When one would have an idea, the other brother would encourage him to go bigger and better. Their understanding of automotive design is on a completely another level to the rest of us, but despite working within the industry and being surrounded by their work at all times, it’s only served to strengthen their resolve.

Read the full story and see all of the pictures over at SpeedHunters!

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