For car enthusiasts, driving is about more than just the technical specifics. Open Road explores not just what these cars do, but what they mean. Whether it’s an old, new, or exotic model, HYPEBEAST is looking beyond the stats to unpack the simple pleasures of automotive.
Electric cars will soon be the de facto mode of transport. Even though today’s choice is nigh on endless – ranging from EV city cars such as the Fiat 500e to performance wagons like the Porsche Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo – many petrolheads still feel that the electrification of automobiles could be their demise. This is where Everrati comes in – a British start-up that takes classic models such as this 1990’s Porsche 911 (964) and restores them before implanting an electric motor.
Electro-modding is not a new thing. In fact, it stems from the ever-growing world of resto-modding, which sees classic cars restored while their internals are simultaneously upgraded – think E-Type UK’s “Unleashed” or this Singer’s Porsches. The trend is big business, offering a way for old-school motoring enthusiasts to enjoy classic cars in today’s traffic-filled, regulation-packed world. Another factor is the growing expense of maintaining cars, and electrification offers a way forward as it reduces both fuel and maintenance costs dramatically.
Many traditional motoring enthusiasts fear that by electrifying cars, let alone a classic one, you will lose the machine’s original character. The satisfaction of manually shifting through gears, the commanding presence of feedback-packed steering, naturally-aspirated noises from the engine and the smell of petrol in the cabin are all elements that excite purists. Two whining motors and low-effort driving are quite the opposite to traditional motoring, but then so is Everrati’s outlook.
To harness what makes classic cars desirable, Everrati has had to channel its inner Back to the Future. The tinkering racket of an air-cooled engine is obviously removed, but a dual-tipped carbon fiber “exhaust” speaker now emits a noise akin to an internal combustion engine. The quintessential wheel arch-placed fuel cap remains, but underneath lies the charging port. It’s almost as light as the original car, it’s still rear-wheel-drive, and there’s plenty of fun to be had that can make any petrolhead fall in love with it, even if it is an EV.
Before HYPEBEAST got behind the wheel of the Everrati 911, the founders Justin Lunny and Nick Williams quipped how many want a classic Porsche but would probably be disappointed when driving it, no doubt due to the car’s age and lack of power in comparison to today’s sports cars. But with electrification, these problems are resolved – 500 BHP, 0-60 MPH in under four seconds and 150-plus miles of range are all at your disposal, and for HYPEBEAST, this was deployed without a second thought on an abandoned military airfield that Everrati calls home.
Prior to starting the car, Williams also pointed out one particularly special button. “It’s like a rocket mode,” he teased. Naturally, this button was engaged from the get-go, making accelerations harder and the power punchier while the rear wheels just about coped sans-traction control.
First impressions of the Everrati were as expected: you immediately notice that the car is silently powering you along at rapid speeds. What was unexpected, though, was the car’s familiarity and how it felt more aligned with a traditional Porsche 911 than a contemporary EV. Perhaps the sparse and retro interior helped here, but it does not feel like you’re in anything other than a classic sportscar.
Everrati achieves this with vintage dials re-hashed with its own branding and information, and its seats are trimmed in black leather and nubuck but are plush, unlike today’s wafer-thin sports car bucket seats. The gear knob is golf ball-shaped and a real handbrake allows for e-brake turns in abundance. This all came together for a driving experience that felt authentic to a car of its age, and thanks to the perfectly balanced steering, upgraded Brembo brakes, and grippy tires, it held on to the tarmac as you hung on for dear life. Simply put, it’s the vintage Porsche 911 you’ve always wanted – because a stock 30-plus-year-old 911 would not be able to keep up with Everrati’s offering.
Capturing the car’s characteristics and amplifying them is one thing, but making this work in today’s world is another. By doing so the vintage 911 is now a car that could be used on a daily basis in cities, on country roads, or on longer trips as you charge at stations across the country. Minor touches such as new headlamps combined with original rear lights, or a ducktail spoiler covered in the special-edition Gulf livery, work alongside modern amenities like navigation, DAB+, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and optional heated front seats for the perfect amalgamation of old and new. The result is an achingly beautiful ode to what the car was while simultaneously creating something that it needs to be, that being something fit for the future.
After hooning around the track, burning copious amounts of rubber, and filling the cabin with smoke before taking well-needed rests to regain clarity on what might be one of the most visceral and commanding driving experiences money can buy, our minds were eventually made up on the Everrati 911.
What first seemed like an oxymoron now made perfect sense. This is not a sacrilegious exercise in taking something fine and bastardizing it with batteries Instead, it’s a manifesto for the future of automotive. EVs do not have to be hyper-modern and in turn redundant of all excitement other than what the right pedal can deliver, they can be classically refined – when necessary – and they can still make for incredibly capable track day sports cars. The Everrati 911 is a case for an electric future, showing that simplicity and a raw approach to design combined with a real driving experience can match the energy of a screaming V12 and every single driver aid in the business.
The 21st-century has created its own problems and now it’s time to deal with them. This is where electro-modding comes in and shines – everything we love and cherish about driving is tweaked and perfected for real life today. The electric 911 is nostalgic and that’s exactly how Everrati is going to keep the enthusiast car scene alive and kicking in a time that’s becoming increasingly diluted.
Click here to view full gallery at HYPEBEAST
wazup.