It’s been said that the front of this 356 Porsche hints at the Lightning McQueen car from the animated movie series ‘Cars’ – but there’s nothing to suggest that the fellow who commissioned the car was into mimicry.
All that is known about him is that he’s from America’s upper east coast and that he wanted a 356 Porsche with all-wheel-drive that could get him to ski fields. Also, that he knows how to weld titanium.
Porsche never built a four-paw production 356. So what better company to deliver such a personalised car than Emory Motorsports, a specialist 356 builder in the State of Oregon.
The finished product is called the ‘Allrad’. It’s another of the so-called ‘Outlaw’ series of 356 models that Emery Motorsports has been turning out since 1996.
Says founder Rod Emory: “My wife Amy and I started with a few simple goals: to build the most iconic, yet personalised Porsche 356s on the planet and to deliver a customer experience unlike any other in the Porsche marketplace.”
The Allrad is a reworked 1964 356C body mated to the chassis of a 1990 964-series 911 C4S. It took four years to complete and weighs 980kg.
Emory stretched the body of the 356 to match the suspension hardpoints from the 911, shortened the 911 centre tunnel to match the wheelbase of the 356C, and widened the haunches of the 356 to fit the 911’s rear track. Adjustable coilover shocks are at all four corners.
Engine is a Emory-Rothsport 2.4-litre flat-four equipped with dual Weber carburettors and delivering 150kW. Gearbox is the five-speed manual from the 911.
Power goes to all four wheels via differentials with manual adjustable torque splits. Dials inside can send it fore and aft and left and right independently. Brakes are from the 911 and hide behind customised 16-inch wheels wearing Pirelli Ice Zero rubber.
Allrad is painted graphite blue metallic, gets a flattened bonnet with a competition fuel filler, a louvered engine cover, yellow-tinted headlights, and body-coloured light housings.
Up top, a special roof rack holds on to the drip rails with 3D-printed titanium clamps, welded to the rails by the owner himself.
Both front seats are finished in green leather, the driver’s RS-style with bolsters, the passenger’s more a Speedster style. Both have four-point harnesses. Other features include a Momo Heritage steering wheel and a Tilton pedal assembly.