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Terracotta Warriors are stone armies built and conscripted in ancient China to guard the emperor’s tombs.The name conjures images of a legendary, fearsome warrior who was nimble, agile, and light on his feet.There’s a short-wheelbase Porsche 911 roaming the streets of San Francisco and the Bay Area, and it shares many of the same attributes, fittingly, it’s called Terracotta by its owners.However, unlike the stoic statue of the same name, the warrior is barely immobile.
Gen Shibayama is well known among Bay Area Porsche enthusiasts as collectors and R-Gruppe members keen to exercise their little army.Gen owns a large collection of mostly air-cooled cars, buys, upgrades and restores them frequently, then drives them out before deciding which ones are special enough to keep in his long-term collection.
His 1973 Carrera RS and 1967 911S and Gen’s Ferrari 365 GT4 BB belong to these “cars of eternity.”He loves to collect, but his main connection to cars is as a driver.Rain or shine, he’s out every day, sometimes driving several times a day.He whips his RS and S almost every day.
Therefore, he has plenty of seat time.Even most people in a modern 911 can’t keep up with him on the back roads, but with miles behind the wheel of his basic stock, high-quality, short-wheelbase car, Gen wanted to have a more powerful , Better Cars – Dealing with short wheelbase cars to complement it.Not wanting to modify his beloved 1967 911S, they set out to find the right 911 to make in R Gruppe style — basically a Porsche hot rod.With the help of his friend Erik Lind, R Gruppe member and Porsche specialist at Sports Purpose Garage, a suitable car was found and the Terracotta Warrior began to take shape.
The car the Gen is in was originally a base model 1968 911.At some point, this Porsche found its way to the Pacific Northwest, only to find it languishing in a barn outside Seattle — a real barn find.
Erik Lind explained: “The car was actually in a barn near Seattle. The previous owner apparently parked it after the brakes failed, and it sat there for almost 20 years. It was originally Burgundy and was Repainted here and there. The car has some bruises on the rear left and front right, but despite the average weather conditions, it’s not rusted and solid. Danny at DG Vintage Coachworks in Washington knows this because we’ve worked with him in the past Had a 1972 911S restoration together, so he got a nod to the metal, body and paint job of the car, the car was put on a Celette, verified straight away, then the rotisserie blasted, sealed, and Danny did everything metal products.”
Next, the car was shipped to Erik’s Sports Purpose Garage store in Livermore, California.Erik has been a serial hot rod and customizer from early American iron to Japanese imports and diesel trucks and everything in between.He bought a Porsche 914 about eight years ago and owned several other Porsches in various configurations (mostly 944 and 951 models) before finally getting his 911 about six years ago.That car drove the eventual creation of the Sports Purpose Garage in 2018 to meet the needs of the local air-cooled hot rod community.The shop specializes in performance upgrades in the spirit of the original Porsche catalog.Erik and his business partner Craig do all mechanical and electrical work in-house and manage other projects such as bodywork and paint.
The purpose of this car is to give it a similar feel to the Gen 1967 911S, but “more”.
As Erik explains, “Cars inspired by the 911R definitely provided inspiration. We wanted to move away from these builds in some key ways, but of course there were things on the list for good reason, like in doors, quarters, backstops Plastic windows are used in the panels and in the vents. We also used fixed vents like the R with small bubble vents and the rear plastic quarters are glued inside and vented, also like the R. We chose to put them Cut it out and made it flush while retaining the quarter window lower trim as we felt the reveal added a nice color break. In keeping with the R inspired design we put Danny moulding in the front and rear R lights into the fiberglass front and rear bumpers.”
The most unique part of the Warrior’s exterior is its bold hue, a rare 1955 Porsche color called Terracotta that was only available on the 356 for one year.To contrast with the bold paint finish, Gen and Erik chose all of the trim for Cerakote, a color called tungsten, because they felt it most closely resembled the look of old magnesium.The wheels are custom Group4 Torque Thrust replicas (a nine-axis scan of the original early magnesium wheels, which Group4 then modified to accept standard lugs and normal smaller valve stems, as well as adding beads for radial tires) .
Inside is a set of classic travel seats, recycled by Tony at Acme Auto Upholstery in Pleasanton, California.The orange weave used throughout was custom made by Wisconsin-based AchtungKraft, which also provides the driver’s side mirror.A casual flat MOMO steering wheel and solid wheels from Zuffenhaus sit above JWest Engineering’s gear lever, both with the Cerakote treatment.The door panels and dashboard trim have also been coated.Keeping with the scheme, another nice detail is the color-matched tachometer.
A special custom bonnet grille comes from Erik’s friend Florian in Germany at Spades Customs, but below is the real party work.Amazingly, this 1968 car still retains a number-matched engine and transmission after years of hard use on the streets.The engine was sent to Holleran Performance in Auburn, California, where it was battle-ready.At the heart of the Terracotta Warrior is an enlarged 2.5-liter engine with a 10.5:1 compression ratio and custom cams.
Inside this minimalist-looking mill, everything is bladed, lightened, coated and honed.A set of 2.7 heads from a later model were chosen and converted to run dual spark plugs, and also ported and blended to help them flow better.John Holleran also rebuilt the transmission and installed LSD.The car’s air intake was modified with a 45mm independent throttle body.The fiberglass engine canister and other fittings are coated to match, and every effort is made to hide things like vacuum tubes and wiring to keep the engine bay as clean as possible.Aesthetically and mechanically, it’s all business here.The end result isn’t just numbers, but a good summary is that this engine now spins to 8000rpm and produces an impressive 220hp at the rear wheels.Naturally aspirated power is plenty for a car of this size and weight.
The overhauled and beefed-up suspension consists of 21/25 Sanders torsion bars, Elephant Racing PolyBronze bushings, adjustable rear spring plates, Tarrett camber plates, Bilstein sports dampers and RSR-style adjustable rockers.Braking comes from a 23mm master cylinder with aluminium Brembo calipers and PMB Performance vented rotors up front, and SC-spec vented rotors and calipers in the rear.It’s all put on the pavement with sticky Avon CR6ZZ tires with an era-appropriate tread pattern.
“This car turned out exactly what I expected,” Eric told me, “The Warrior delivers a smooth torque delivery almost everywhere, with plenty of power available in every gear — effortlessly. More Lighter weight and stiffer suspension, reduced body roll from anti-roll bars, stickier tires, all of which make the car more balanced and planted. LSD lets you reduce power and the brakes wear off your speed The fronts are excellent. It’s enhanced in every way but still retains the early short wheelbase 911′s character, which would be a shame to try to wipe it out entirely.”
Owner Shibayama Yuan seemed equally happy.”The reason I decided to build the SWB 911 hot rod is that I really enjoyed driving my rather original 1967 911S. That Porsche was the best powered car, a true lightweight at 2100 pounds with a high-revving 2 liter engine that shines on winding roads. However, in order to drive it fast you really need to keep the revs between 5000-7000 as there is very little mid-range torque to help you out of that rev. Suspension is also very It’s soft and airy, so it starts to show some limitations on the track or on a high-speed sweeper.
“So having said all that, I decided to build something faster and taller to complement most of the stock S, so I decided to go for a modern interpretation of the 1967 911R. The Terracotta turned out to be the 911 I really wanted! At 1900 pounds lighter and cranking out 250 horsepower, it’s a pretty quick car. It keeps up with modern supercars, especially as the turns get tighter. With maddening Avons and so little Its moving quality, it corners very, very well, and accelerates from apex – there are plenty of ways to make the car faster, but nothing really replaces the weight savings.
“When you rev the EFI engine up to the 8000 rpm redline, it’s exhilarating noise, and the near-ratio dogleg gearbox allowed me to keep the car near the height of its torque band. I haven’t gotten the terracotta Take it to the track, but I feel very strongly that it will get the job done. The suspension is very tight and motorsport inspired, but surprisingly it does well on rough rally track roads as well. For some reason Reason, the short wheelbase 911 has a negative image among some Porsche fans because it is more prone to oversteer and less stable at high speed than later long wheelbase cars. But I feel that with stronger brakes, Suspension and grippy tires, this car has corrected those negative traits, and you’re left with all agility and fewer tradeoffs.
“Another good thing about this version is that while it’s loud, it’s still easy on the highway and around town, and thanks to its improved low-end torque, you don’t need to keep the revs high. Being an air-cooled Porsche Enthusiasts and R Gruppe members, I’ve seen and driven many modified 911s, what I didn’t want to create was an overpowered, undriveable monster. I’m very happy with the results of Terracotta. No doubt it’s a A fighter, but it’s easy to fall in love with and live with.”
I recently met Gen at 7:00 am on a Sunday morning in San Francisco’s Marina District.Warrior and Gen’s 1967 911S are waiting, tandem parked in the cramped garage beneath the house, as is common in San Francisco.As we walked slowly down the street, a distinctive wind-chilled sound interrupted the quiet neighborhood.Behind the wheel of the Terracotta Warriors, I followed Gen to the Golden Gate Bridge.The car’s lightness is immediately apparent — and every blemish on the road.It has the torque to go third-place all day, but this car isn’t designed for boulevard cruising.It wants to be constantly busy.It’s happiest when the engine is pulled to redline, and no matter how fast you drive, the car feels like it wants to go faster.It appeals to every gear.The short-throw shifters are pleasant to operate, making firm, positive changes and snapping into place as mechanically assured.The experience is aided by a sturdy clutch that grabs when and where it should be.It’s nimble and precise, but the car still retains that old-school 911 early feel—it’s simpler.
Post time: Jun-27-2022
