Singer Vehicle Design has gained a huge cult following for the breathtaking restoration of air-cooled Porsche 911s. Two new customer-commissions continue to show why.The Singer story still sounds almost too unlikely to be true, with a small workshop in Southern California, ran by a former rock musician. But that is the genuine truth – the cousin of Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson is restoring classic Porsches in Los Angeles. It’s also important to note that for reasons of respect – and the probable threat of messy intellectual property law – the creations of that workshop should never be referred to as a “Singer 911” or similar. You’ve been warned. Instead these two cars are Porsche 911s that have been “restored, reimagined, and reborn by Singer Vehicle Design”.Nomenclature dispensed with, the main prizes here are the product of Singer’s 8-10 month restoration process which comprehensively transforms a Porsche 964 into a genuine work of art. These two particular cars are referred to as “Florida” and “North Carolina” which reflects the home states of their very lucky owners. The Florida car is painted Hemingway Blue, whilst North Carolina features a Blood Red Dark colour scheme.Both rock carbon fibre body panels, Ohlins suspension, Brembo brakes and Singer’s special 4.0-litre flat-six engine; producing 390hp! Inside there’s more of a difference, as North Carolina is fitted with black leather touring seats, whilst Florida has beige fixed buckets with retro brass ventilation holes.

Electrically-adjustable leather Recaros for North Carolina

The best kind of beige

The overall aim of Singer is to produce each car as a one-off, with numerous options available to customers wanting to recreate the classic Porsche 911 of the 1960s and ’70s, but using a bodyshell from the 1990s. Fitting items like bi-xenon units into retro-styled headlights offers up a mix of modern and classic, with an attention to detail that has resulted in the demand for 40 individual cars since 2008.

Check out the quilting behind the engine

Not everything is Florida is tacky. Proof.

It’s hard not to be seduced by the work of Singer, but they don’t come cheap. Expect somewhere in the region of £280,000 as a starting point, with the two cars featured here stretching closer to £450,000 depending on options. However, with the ridiculous rate of climb in the classic car market at present, the prices for a classic 911 restored by Singer starts to represent relatively good value. We’d have one – in grey with orange stripes, and a 4.0-litre engine, and…If you happen to be in the United States, and want to go drool of these two cars, they’ll be on show at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance (March 11-13) and The Palm Event (March 18-20). Try not to get too much saliva on the paintwork – it’s considered rude in most polite circles. You can of course always head to Singer’s website should want to see even more. Set aside a few hours, at least.