Is the 911 Backdate the 21st Century Equivalent of a Slantnose Conversion?
 

This thought occurred to me as I was browsing BaT today, to see yet another backdated 911. Great car, looks well done, I’m sure fun as hell, but seems to be getting pretty cliche at this point. Am I alone here?

Well, a few years ago, the right kind of backdate could draw big money, and maybe still can.
However, now that pristine impact bumper bumper cars are starting to have value, I'm sure that is influencing many people's opinion on originality.

I just want a fun car that goes like a scalded cat.

Must be a market..... I do find them boring........

I have seen many countless modifications to a 911. Some so horrible I had to just walk away before I said something rude. One of our local members has one of the pre-production 911 slantnose Turbo from Porsche. It was an early prototype and does not even have pop up headlights. It is rare and likely very valuable, but ugly as sin in my personal opinion.

I am just an grumpy old white man. I prefer the stock look. My car looks pretty stock except the wheels are fake Fuchs in a 17 inch so I could buy decent tires. The original 15 inch Fuchs are in the attic.

So my personal opinion, yes the backdate is silly. Like the people that strip out the heat exchangers and the entire AC system to save some weight. Unless it is a track car that is nuts in my opinion.

In the end, the owner of the car is just that. The owner. It is just a car and they are free to do whatever they want to it.

It is a bit played out but at least the saving grace is that longhood cars look gorgeous, unlike many of the past must-do modifications like impact-bumpering your longhood in the 80's, or performing questionable slantnose/widebody conversions (see also: Gemballa, Strosek, Koenig).

Of course reading back to my first line as the Devil's Advocate, the longhoods look gorgeous to today's eyes but will they always? Is the attraction to chrome and fine features only a reaction to today's monochromatic and anonymous automotive styling? Time will tell....

I don't see the comparison with a slantnose. Yes, people overdid the slantnose on street cars, but it's original purpose was to give better aero to the 935 race car.

Backdating is done simply for the sake of appearance.

Overdone? Perhaps. Just a matter of opinion to me. If so, are Singers losing their cache'?

There was a time where I liked the impact bumper cars way more than the longhoods.

In 1985, I was reaching the age to get my drivers license.

At that time, there was NOTHING more beautiful than an impact bumper 930.
Everyone was converting longhoods into impact bumpers.

My father (who owns a 1965 911) called impact bumpers ugly, and slantnoses "abortion porsches" As a 15 year old, I didn't get it.

But he was right.


Basically this- things go into and out of fashion. Just don't get caught up in the fad.
Just as in the 80's, you couldn't repaint a porsche from orange/brown/blue to red fast enough, - 5 years from now- Guards Red will be the next "thing"

I also remember a backlash against 73 carrera conversions in the 2000's. "So cliche..."

As an aside- I completely get the practicality of a 17-18 rim on a 911, however, I think it looks like butt.
10 years from now you will be able to custom order a 15 inch 245 tire without so much as a second thought at a reasonable price. Bring it on!! :)

It's like plastic surgery.
A good job might look a little better. But it might look worse. And possibly much worse.
OEM, even if old, is always a better choice. No matter what model you are.

I tell myself this as I look into the mirror and see that my eyes have bags like the headlights of a 996.

from 901 to 997 my favorite is the 930.

However, I think the current gen 911 has an offering that would compete with choosing between it and a 930.

My favorite Porsche road car styling? The 944.

It may not be a fair comparison because in the 80's and 90's these cars were all over the place, but in all reality when is the last time you saw a longhood on the road? Backdate or not. I rarely even see impact bumper 911's and I'm in California. So within the Porsche community they might be common, but in the macro sense if a person is driving a longhood style car, its probably one of a handful within that community.

Some time they go by me so fat that I don't have time to see if they are conversions or not? I don't think the long hood is better looking then a typical 930. Maybe they were before my time. I agree with Leakyseal and felt the same way, we are about the same age. I remember seeing a slant nose back then and thought that was "THE" car. Hell, the DP 930 Slantnose Cab was the most in your face car of the 80s and I would give my left nut just to seat in one back then. Today, I think they are ugly as hell. I have to say this, I still don't think the long hood cars are that great looking and I am building one. No, its no back date.

Very rare here in Belgium & Netherlands, since there are car thieving gangs out to get them.
They steal em from parkings & garages, in plain daylight.
they even stole a 356 at a Concours show last summer.

Some people are really concerned about getting theirs out in public these day

I'm not a fan of the typical backdate look, the RS RSR look.

But I'm loving the genuine narrow bodied early car look. Chrome here and there, and steel wheels.

Yes, but it was a cool thing to do in either era.

Laugh at big bell bottom jeans and long hair of the early 1970's, but they were cool as heck at the time.

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The day I can get a summer performance tire for my factory 15s that can be used on the highway in the rain and general use I will put the OEM Fuchs back on. I can get autocross stickies now, but no one would use those on the highway in the rain on a 5,000 mile road trip.
In the mean time I do like my 17s. This photo is from a road trip to Maine and into Canada. I hit all the New England states.

^Very nice...

Funny, back in the 70's & 80's, you could buy kits to make your old 911 appear to have modern impact bumpers. (fiberglass)

I totally get why everyone is doing it and will probably be going over to the dark side soon myself.
I am pretty old school, and I even get bent out of shape when people put 16's on a longhood.

Yours do look pretty subtle and I am partial to the white! :D

I would rather have a perfect back date than a ratted original.

But I'd also rather have a perfect rebuilt original over spending that money on a back date.

Mark! If you are reading this; please contact me so we can take the impact bumpers of your 1972 911S and convert it back to original.

I personally think the styling of the 911 peaked in the early 1970s. I think the impact bumper cars look like an "okay" attempt to meet standards at the time, but over time they look dated. When you realize all the weight that was added to the car over time, taking away from performance, to add comfort features (power mirrors, power seats, cruise control, etc.) and heavy bumpers and rocker panels, etc. the car starts looking heavy and feeling heavy. Take that **** off and it starts to feel like a different beast. That is why I have done it. To each their own...it's just a machine after all.

The standard 911 has changed emphasis from a sports car to a GT.

Nothing wrong with that. I really like when stepping out of an hour + drive in modern 911 I don't feel cramped or tired.

On the other hand, on a short drive to nowhere it is nice to have the rawness of a light and nimble machine.

It need not be so big to have good car seats.
the Cayman is 200kg and change kg but offers the exact same comfort to the driver.
200 kg for those useless backseats??

And to think the Cayman isn't really a lightweight either..
It's no Lotus Elise mk1


If Porsche hadn't been handicapping the Cayman , the 911 would sell a lot less.

Yes, I have said this before as well. It is a fad that heavily modifies the body into a non-original configuration that is popular right now. But it won't be forever. In the long run that conversion will be worth less than an original car, if all other things are equal. (You can't argue that you'd rather have a restored long hood conversion over a ratty impact bumper car, have to compare a nice conversion with an nice original car).

The 3.6 upgrade was HOT when I started into Porsches in the early 2000s. Don't see that much anymore. The ruf and other smooth light weight bumpers were hot too, already going away as well, in favor of the impact bumpers.

G

Conversions and back dates fall in and out of style. Cool for a while like Members Only jackets in 1980 or Nero jackets for a week in 1969.
Original equipment will always be the most coveted in the long run. Anyone can rat rod a muscle car but all OEM takes time and patience (and MONEY).
I predict that back dates and RSR clones will be passe and eventually worth less than the donor car if left original. That said, buy what you like. I put a 930S steering wheel in my Carrera. Original? No but I thought the stock wheel in 1987 was ugly. (I do have the stock wheel carefully stored away).
OBTW, GH85Carrera: stone guards didn't come on non-turbo cars (but I liked the look so I put them on mine as well).

Tabby often says it here...after 1973, the Porsche Gods rested...

My dad had a late 60's longhood. I remember him taking me to the Porsche dealership back in about '74 and seeing one of those then brand new impact bumper cars. I remember wanting my dad to dump his right there on the spot. The new ones looked SO good to my ten year old eye. I loved the fender flares, compared to my dad's car's slab sides. I loved the red plastic reflector bar across the back end. I loved the deeper dish wheels compared to those on my dad's car.

Truth be told, I still prefer the look of an impact bumper car to a long hood.

and yes, imo, the desire to convert impact bumper cars to fake longhoods will die out.

I predict that no one will be backdating their car to look like a 996 (not that there's anything wrong with them).

Diogenes, extinguish thy lamp! LOL!

Actually, it was a look at the then new '74 cars that began the hunt that resulted in my buying the '72 911S.

As a "backdater", I honestly don't care about the impact on perceived "worth". I drove it for almost 30 years as an impact bumper car, got tired of looking at it that way (and having failing and unsafe systems in it that I didn't use) and changed it. I left the 1980s behind. I hope to drive it another 20 years or more as it is now.

To each their own...it is only a car after all.

I love the early cars. I also love the bellows bumper cars.

It does seem like backdating is happening more and more. I guess it's driven by the desire for the early cars and their prices. I could be just as happy with a bellows bumper car.

Yes

My SC had the rock guards installed pre-delivery by the dealership, so they were original to the car.

Slant nose conversions are pure poseur. Sort of like putting a turbo badge on an NA car. Longhood conversions are not an attempt to falsely convey high performance. They are done for aesthetic reasons..so in a word; no.

Actually you could complete either conversion with OEM parts, and each duplicates a factory 911. So I think it's hard to argue that one is more poseur than the other, as each makes the car into something that it wasn't when it left the factory.

I like hot rods, so I can't say that I object to anyone's vision. I also think a well done backdate looks great. It just seems that today's hot rod 911s are all starting to look a lot alike......

I agree on the parts availability, but my point about falsely conveying enhanced performance is what makes them unlikable - at least in my book.

Have you seen the My RSR thread?... http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/952726-my-rsr-build.html

If I was to make a conversion (clone) I'd make a more subtle sort of conversion. Something like a Carrera Club Sport, but even lighter.

72 911T project I've been storing for 10 years converted (in steel) to look like a 74 Carrera back in the 80's.

Move from Seattle to Spokane last year :-)

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