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Recent Tuthill Porsche newsletters (sign up here) have told the story of our latest Tuthill Bespoke build: a RHD 1972 Porsche 911E, built for our friend and client, Maani Safa. The car is now finished and recently enjoyed a long road trip around Europe in incredible style. We are delighted to share some more details.
Describing himself as a “creative technology pioneer who develops products that help reinvent consumer engagement and interaction on a global scale”, anyone who has visited Maani’s unique Instagram feed (@Safatopia) will be familiar with his trademark positivity. As a change leader guiding executive teams from organisations including Virgin, Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal through the challenging landscape of digital transformation, Maani embraces the energy of evolution and opens the mind to whatever else presents itself along the way. His philosophy is a fresh approach: we have enjoyed working with Maani on this very cool car.
The project started with a wonderful 911 that we had maintained for many years. RHD 1972 911Es don’t grow on trees and certainly not cars originally finished in Aubergine. When Maani first suggested changing the colour for something slightly more contemporary, our first reaction was to steer him back towards the original, but that would not be the Maani way. Restoration with transformation is the point of this journey.
For the bodyshell, a colour was chosen that honoured the original, but brought the shape and flow bang up to date: 2018 Porsche Amethyst. Inside, the trim came alive with special order Bitter Chocolate leather and Morello Cherry suede woven together for some areas and used separately in others. The cabin also benefitted from fitment of modern day air-conditioning, courtesy of the Classic Retrofit ‘Electrocooler’ kit.
The 911E’s engine is one of the sweetest flat six engines ever, so that was left as Stuttgart intended with a mild cosmetic uplift and we refreshed the transmission. The rest of the chassis was inspected and parts replaced where needed, but, as the car had been looked after here for many years before a period of extended storage, most aspects were in very good order. The bodywork had many small tweaks and modifications before being painted, then the finished product was wrapped in protective film and a side graphic in understated grey was added to tie in the RSR-finished wheels.
Once the rebuild and restoration was complete, the road trip could begin: a 2,245-mile drive with good friends stopping off at some of Europe’s most beautiful cities. From London, the group took the Eurotunnel to France, then headed for Lyon, Lake Lausanne, Portofino in Italy, Monte Carlo, Cannes, Lyon and back to Paris. The car performed reliably throughout, returning with just a small list of items to attend to.
“The restoration of this car has been one of the most enjoyable creative journeys I have been on to date,” says Maani. “To me, creativity is the most dynamic and free-form type of self-expression a person can do; a way of living life that embraces true originality. Bringing this car back to life by restoring every tiny aspect of it while infusing my own personal creative DNA into it has been a truly enjoyable experience.”
All of our bespoke Porsche 911 builds are designed by the owners with our input where required and anything is possible! Contact us to discuss how we can help achieve your Porsche dreams.
