Theon Design’s Latest Porsche Restomod Is Sporty, But Not in Your Face

Adam Hawley looks unimpressed. "You’re not the worst driver I’ve ever driven with," says the co-founder of Theon Design, the young British company with a fast-growing reputation for reimagining the generation of Porsche 911 known as the 964, which was in production from 1989 through 1994. But his face breaks into a wry smile. "Let's just hope the car doesn't need a new clutch," he says.

I hope so, too. I’m piloting Theon Design's ITA001, a car that's taken somewhere in the region of $630,000 and 18 months to build. Shortly, it's due to be delivered to its new owner. Pride and joy. In my defense, the roads around Theon's Oxfordshire workshop are frankly appalling; bumpy, narrow, and riddled with potholes (a regular news item across this crumbling isle). Having spent all of five minutes with this six-speed manual, I’ll forgive myself the odd late clutch release.

While the roads—and yes, perhaps the pilot, too—may be lacking, the car is not. It really isn't. Simply to look at, the ITA001 is exquisite, the 911's familiar swooping silhouette enhanced with myriad tweaks (the bespoke conical brushed-aluminum mirrors are inspired by a Porsche Speedster, for example) that combine to form a profile that's sleeker than a moonlit panther.

The Schwartz Black paint job, Porsche script, grey ghost stripes, and champagne-colored 18-inch Fuchs wheels help, of course, as do the flared rear arches, plumped up to give this early-1990s base model, once considered the ugly-duckling 911, a flash of muscular 1970s ostentation.

Hawley, a car designer by training who has worked with Jaguar, BMW, and Lotus, is blessed—or cursed, depending on your take—with an obsession for detail that might make a Porsche engineer blush. He points out the car's rear fog lights, which have been integrated into the rear valance, whereas, other restomod houses might bolt one on as an afterthought. He's even redesigned the support rod for the car's "frunk" space. "The original was ugly," he says.

Inside, the interior is a sea of beautifully detailed tobacco-brown bridle leather, interrupted by only a handful of buttons. There's no stereo as such, only six Bluetooth speakers and a subtle magnetic recess on the leather-weave dash where the owner will one day wedge their phone. The instrument-panel arrangement is the 911's archetypal five-dial layout, with the larger rev counter front and center, all finished in glorious heritage green. It's cleaner than a German architect's stubble.

And more handsome, too. This is the sixth car Theon has completed since Hawley and his co-founder—who is also his wife—Lucinda Argy set up shop in 2016. Hawley's mantra is to work hand-in-hand with the owner to create a bespoke car that's reflective of their tastes and driving style. As such, ITA001, Theon's first restomod for an Italian client, has been designed as a Touring RS—"sporty, but not in your face," says Hawley. It oozes a natural cool that, despite the realities of the 18-month build, could have been achieved with no effort at all—sprezzatura, as the Italians call it. Or perhaps that should be, "sprezzaturismo"?

And so, on a torpor-inducing nothing of a British spring day, skies leaden overhead, Hawley has turned the sun back on by inviting me to take his latest creation for a spin. Sparking the ignition—using an actual key, wonderful—it explodes into life. Under the hood (behind me, obviously) is an air-cooled, 4.0-liter flat-six tuned up to push out 400 bph.

Even while idling, it barks like a Doberman eyeing up a ribeye. With its carbon-fiber body, the car has a wet weight that's a sprightly 2,539.7 pounds, giving it the kind of power-to-weight ratio found in a 993 GT3, Hawley tells me. As we dodge potholes, the carnal feel continues. Even allowing for an electric power-steering pump tucked away under the frunk, the steering is entertainingly firm, communicating through the forearms as well as the fingertips. As I get used to it, and when we finally hit some flat tarmac, shifting through the gears becomes pleasingly direct thanks to Theon's addition of a six-speed gearbox from a 993 RS. And every time I push the accelerator to the floor, it picks up with spectacular violence, howling with incandescent rage as the revs climb up to the redline and through 7,000 rpm.

Earlier, while we’d been chatting in Theon's deliberately nondescript, off-map barn, Hawley and Argy had talked me through their philosophy. "We wanted to build the car as if Porsche had built it now, with the technology we have today," Hawley stated. Argy continued: "It's not meant to be a track-day car. It's completely drivable, a car that would make you drive home the long way." Which I’m sure it would, if, that is, you lived anywhere but rural Oxfordshire.

Both tell me their cars are produced the "Porsche way", so they can be serviced by any Porsche dealer. As an example, they mention the car's indicator cabling, which is the same color you’d find in a standard Porsche. After all, owners of cars shipped to the U.S. or Hong Kong are not going to want to send their cars back to the U.K. for maintenance.

This project, ITA001, arrives into a bustling market for 911 restomods. The success of California-based Singer Vehicle Design has transformed perceptions of one of the least-loved iterations of the 911, sending values skyward. Argy estimates that a sound original example would now set would-be Theon customers back $100,000, almost double what they were a few years ago. Theon's cars start from around $450,000, not including the donor vehicle.

Recent expansion means Hawley and Argy can now put out four or five cars per year, although with lead times now at two-and-a-half years as the order book fills up, future owners will have to be patient. Yet that might be good news. Perhaps by then, the potholes will have been filled, and we’ll find out just how bad a driver I really am.

Click here for more photos of Theon Design's latest Porsche 964 restomod.