Singer and Louis Vuitton Go To Extremes With Two Bespoke Porsche 911s

Collaborations between watch companies and other industries come in all shapes and sizes, and extend well beyond the usual realms of fashion and art. We’ve seen pretty much anything we’d say, but every now and then, one comes along that surprises us, regardless of how natural the connection might be in hindsight. One such collaboration is the Porsche 911 Reimagined by Singer Vehicle Design LV-01 Classic and LV-02 Classic Turbo, which connect the world of bespoke restomod cars with high-end luxury and watchmaking. And yes, as you might have guessed, the ‘LV’ part of both names refers to Louis Vuitton. But no, it’s not simply an excercise in putting the iconic LV monogram all over the leather-clad interior; there’s genuine design substance and watchmaking involved.

Singer Vehicle Design

Founded by Rob Dickinson in 2009, Singer Vehicle Design (most often simply referred to as Singer) has pretty much reinvented the restomod game on its own by modifying vintage Porsche 911s into bespoke one-off builds. It’s truly remarkable what they can do with a classic Porsche, and it’s not just fixing the paint and cleaning up the engine basy. We’re talking about top-to-bottom work, no bolt left unscrewed or untouched, fully bespoke commissions. Since the very first car, which Rob built for himself, the company has exploded, with a waiting list of several years and price tags that run well into the six figures by now.

Singer mostly turns its attention to the air-cooled 964-generation of the 911, produced between 1989 and 1994, but it branches out into different generations every now and then as well. Each build is completely bespoke from start to finish, and touches upon every element of the car, from the suspension set-up to the buttons for the windows and the stitching in the seats. Performance-wise, nothing is out of the question, basically, as Singer has proven with the brilliant DLS-T concept, where a 964 is turned into a +700bhp weapon based on two of Porsche’s most famous race cars: the 934 and 935.

Singer X Louis Vuitton

Despite the fact that Singer has its own watchmaking side of the business, Singer Reimagined, it turned to Louis Vuitton for its latest high-profile 911-based projects. To be honest, the announcement was a touch surprising, but it goes far beyond a watchmaking connection. Every little detail of the LV-01 Classic and LV-02 Classic Turbo has been reimagined through a Louis Vuitton lens. You can find details of the Maison’s famous travel suitcases in the interior as well as the outside of the car, like the trunk straps on the LV-02 Classic Turbo. Both come with fitted luggage, a wide assortment of clothing and accessories, and countless details reminiscent of the world of Louis Vuitton. Custom switches with LV logos and monograms, quilted Vachetta leather, and even a Louis Vuitton Tambour dashboard clock are found in both cars.

LV-01 Classic

The collaboration is split between two cars, with the LV-01 Classic being based on a 1988 Porsche 911 964 Coupe, and the LV-02 Classic Turbo being a convertible 964-gen 911 at heart. Using a 964 chassis, the LV-01 Classic gets fitted with carbon fibre body panels finished in Louis Vuitton’s signature Saffron orange, with cobalt-blue and yellow accents. The entire profile of the car is nipped and tucked in typical Singer style, looking crisper and more modern than it ever has. To tie things in with the travelling legacy of LV, it comes with a special roof rack and a wide range of luggage, clothing and accessories that perfectly match the car, including a custom surfboard.

Underneath, it packs an air-cooled 4.0-litre naturally aspirated M64 Metzger flat-six engine, making about 390 horsepower, and with a 7,500rpm red line. It might not sound like much in today’s hypercar-powercraze, but given the drop in weight, it’s surely to be a ton of fun on twisty mountain roads. Power is fed to the rear wheels only through a six-speed manual gearbox, and the rear-engine cover has a duck-tail-style spoiler that comes up at speed. It runs on 17-inch Fuchs-style rims finished in Silver Rhodium, wrapped in blue Michelin Pilot Sport 4S demonstration tyres, with carbon ceramic breaks behind it to make sure you stop in time.

On the inside, the LV-01 Classic is entirely covered in Vachetta leather, the type Louis Vuitton uses for most of its luxury leather goods, from wallets to duffle bags and travel trunks. For the car, the leather is finished with the same edge-dyeing, stitching and embossing techniques. The seats are carbon-backed buckets, with quilted leather, which is repeated on the door cards. Riveted vent holes keep you cool in hot weather and while pushing the car at speed, and most of the metal interior trim is Rhodium-plated, something we’re quite familiar with from the world of watchmaking, of course. Louis Vuitton’s design team also turned its attention to the gauge cluster, incorporating the design codes from the Tambour wristwatch collection. And speaking of which, the gauge on the right is a Tambour dashboard clock which can be taken out and converted into a desk clock. Pretty cool!

LV-02 Classic Turbo

The LV-02 Classic Turbo radiates a whole different vibe. Where the LV-01 Classic is primarily focused on the world of travel, this one seems more fit for life along the shores of the Mediterranean Ocean. This too uses a 964 chassis as well as carbon fibre bodywork, yet is finished in a colour called Calcaire Lutétien (cream white-ish), with American walnut, milky gold and silver-rhodium trim and inserts. It’s not often we see exterior trim in wood other than on a Rolls-Royce or Bentley of some sort, and I’m not sure if I personally like it, but it certainly paints an image! The LV-02 Classic Turbo also has a much more pronounced style, with wider arches, bigger bumpers (just like an OG 964 Turbo had) and that signature whale-tail rear spoiler, of course.

Singer ups the ante when it comes to performance with the LV-02 Classic Turbo, as it’s fitted with a 3.8-litre twin-turbo Metzger M64 flat-six engine that sends 510bhp to the rear wheels only. This is again fed through a six-speed manual transmission, and it’s a reassuring thought that it comes with ABS, stability control and various driving modes to control and manage the power. I’m pretty sure it’s a lively machine on the road, given the weight reduction and so on. Singer again opts for carbon-ceramic brakes, and Fuchs-inspired deep-dish wheels finished in Calcaire Lutétien as well, with milky gold trim and wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres as well.

When it comes to the interior, Singer goes down a sort of similar route to the LV-01 Classic. The biggest change, however, is the fact you can take the roof down to see more of it. And speaking of which, ‘roof’ is a bit strong of a word, as it’s a foldable structure of carbon fibre and aluminium with a canvas top, and zero glass for a very open driving experience regardless if you have it up or down. The interior is again clad in caramel-coloured leather carried over from Louis Vuitton’s catalogue, as well as wood and gold trim elements to match the exterior. The front trunk (or Frunk) is also lined in wood to round it all off nicely.

This too comes with a removable Tambour dashboard clock, yet mounted underneath the dashboard in front of the shifter. And if that wasn’t enough, Louis Vuitton has also created a custom Tambour Automatic 40 wristwatch in cream ceramic with gold accents to match the car and the dashboard clock. Talk about dedication to the theme!

There’s no word on pricing for either of the two Singer x Louis Vuitton Porsches, but with such a unique dual project, that also becomes a bit irrelevant. It would suffice to say this is for one or two very fortunate individuals, and probably costs north of a million, easily.

For more information, please visit SingerVehicleDesign.com or LouisVuitton.com.

Editorial Note: The information used and images portrayed in this article are sourced from and used with permission of Singer Vehicle Design and Louis Vuitton, or from our own database unless stated otherwise.