Project F-26 boasts 1,000 air-cooled horsepower

Precious little of note slipped through the PH net last weekend as the money extravaganza that is Pebble Beach reached fever pitch – but it’s probably worth revisiting one car that did, not least because it numbered among the most eye-opening. While perhaps less emotionally resonant than GMA’s homage to the F1 LM (and certainly less consequential than the forward-looking Lamborghini Fenomeno), Project F-26 did have a number of things going for it – a reported price tag of one and a half million dollars being among them. 

Additionally, it is the first Slantnose-inspired build from Gunther Werks, a Porsche restomodder well-known to any PHer with even a passing interest in the West Coast tuning scene. The firm is renowned for doing things in its own inimitable style, and certainly the F-26 lives up to that reputation: you only need to consider the mostly carbon fibre body of a car that takes its styling cues from the Porsche 935 – and, it reckons, American fighter jets, hence the ‘F’ in its name (the ’26’ referring to the model’s projected volume). 

“The Slantnose is a bold icon from Porsche’s past,” says Peter Nam, founder of Gunther Werks. “The timing felt right to reimagine it with modern craftsmanship and engineering. It’s our way of bridging nostalgia with next-gen performance for the modern driver.” How next-gen, you ask? Well, there’s said to be 1,000hp and 750lb ft of torque on tap courtesy of an air-cooled, twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre flat-six that the company developed in partnership with Rothsport Racing. 

As you might expect, this very modern marvel needs a) an incredible amount of air to both charge and cool it, and, less predictably, b) high-octane ethanol to reach its full potential – though adaptive fuel mapping does allow for conventional petrol to also be used. Moreover, GW has mated this behemoth to a six-speed manual transmission, which comes with the sly wink that is a polished wooden gear knob. So probably you can expect the car to feel as nakedly mechanical as a hand-cranked sausage maker. Only noisier and more terrifying. 

To keep a grip on the air-cooled silliness, the F-26 is equipped with gargantuan Turbo Twist magnesium monoblock wheels, which require 295/30R18 tyres at the front and 335/30R18 at the back, not to mention a wheelbase extended by 30mm to ‘improve the engine’s centre of gravity’. There is also the prospect of an all-new double wishbone front suspension, adaptive JRZ dampers, motorsport-grade ABS and advanced traction control. 

GW is a stickler for fit and finish, so it seems likely that the interior – a familiar mix of exposed carbon fibre, custom-made leather upholstery and Alcantara – will live up to the asking price. There is even a Porsche Classic infotainment system, complete with Apple CarPlay, to ensure modern convenience. And with a kerbweight said to be in the region of 1,225kg, there ought to be no shortage of journey-shrinking speed either. If you’re interested, we suggest you get yourself to the website pronto – given the voraciousness of Pebble Beach buyers, you might find precious few left.