Ah, Monterey Car Week. America’s battleground for four-wheeled displays of conspicuous consumption. From one-off hypercars to multi-million-dollar classic Ferraris, a small country’s GDP’s worth of cars descends on the Monterey Peninsula, and companies are eager to pique the interest of ultra-rich clientele. The latest debut from the festivities is simultaneously a perfect fit and a sign. With this collaboration between Singer and Louis Vuitton, the hypebeast-ification of air-cooled 911s is complete.
Even if fashion isn’t your thing, you’ve likely at least heard of Louis Vuitton. This Parisian fashion house is more than 170 years old, and minor slip-ups along the way, such as allegedly being involved in damaging a UNESCO World Heritage site or collaborating with members of a certain neighboring country during the early 1940s, certainly haven’t stopped it from becoming one of the most valuable fashion brands in the world. You might have even seen its “LV” monogram on handbags or shirts, or even trousers.
Then there’s Singer, the company that made restomodded 911s famous. Started in 2009, it immediately set the bar for significant revised 911 builds, continually evolving thanks to new studies and collaborations with companies like Cosworth and Williams. It’s showing off two fully-sanctioned Louis Vuitton-themed 911s at Monterey Car Week, each of which is rather distinct.
The first is a Classic model, one that looks like a long-hood model straight out of the ’60s but is actually a far more modern 964-series air-cooled 911 in disguise. It’s finished in saffron and yellow, two of Louis Vuitton’s signature colors, and features a surfboard on a roof rack as a vague nod to West Coast whimsy. Inside, the leather’s been selected to match Louis Vuitton’s signature LVT leather, and most of the dashboard knobs are plated in rhodium. Branding’s mercifully been kept to a minimum, although how much of the press release is dedicated to explaining colors, materials, and finishes versus oily bits speaks volumes. There’s a four-liter flat-six, a six-speed manual gearbox, and a set of carbon-ceramic discs on hand, but that doesn’t seem like the point.
The other Louis Vuitton Singer project is a cabriolet spec’d out by Nicolas Ghesquière, Artistic Director of Women’s Collections at Louis Vuitton. This one’s also based on a 964, except it’s made to mimic the impact-bumper 930 Turbo. It’s also, strangely, partially made out of wood. There’s wood on the bumpers, woodgrain on the skirts, woodgrain on the spoiler, and a giant wood tonneau cover where you’d normally find a folded soft top.
The wood continues on the inside too, with the dashboard, console trim, steering wheel trim, and even the floor mats made of nature’s composite. Oh, and you can forget the notion of rear seats because that whole area’s taken up by Louis Vuitton luggage. Other details? Well, the shift boot’s supposedly reminiscent of a Noé bag, and you’ll also find wood in the frunk and the engine bay. All that timber is best met with serious shove, so this Singer-built 911 features a 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged flat-six.
This collaboration is certainly a feather in Singer’s cap, but it also feels like the highest proof positive that air-cooled 911s have hit the apex of their performative trophy arc. What was once a weird, leaky, old sports car from Germany with resale value equivalent to a new Corolla is now part of the creative director starter pack. A vehicle less for indulging in trailing-throttle oversteer and more for being seen outside that trendy new coffee shop with an aesthetics-first Instagram page. Now that even Louis Vuitton has jumped on the trend, that shift in buyer is all the more painfully obvious. With prices of impact-bumper cars and even some of the more common long-hood cars dipping over the past few months, maybe we have hit peak air-cooled 911 frenzy. If the other side of this is sanity, I’m here for it.
Still, perhaps the funniest part of all this is how it must feel to be Mercedes-Maybach right now. The marque’s so blatantly tried to run the LV playbook from the Virgil concept to the garishly monogrammed Maybach SL, but Louis Vuitton is going with Singer on this one. How about that?
Top graphic image: Singer
I think Rob Dickinson should go back to his,day job and make another Catherine Wheel album.
“A vehicle less for indulging in trailing-throttle oversteer and more for being seen outside that trendy new coffee shop with an aesthetics-first Instagram page.”
My favorite line of the whole article. So so true.
Louis V on a German car is maybe harkening back a little further than anyone really ought, here – last collab between the French and Germans didn’t go so well (although, having said that, maybe Singer’s reading the moment a little better than I’d like to admit.)
This is how you do a designer car collab: https://www.theautopian.com/the-renault-5-diamant-literally-reinvents-the-wheel-in-a-50th-anniversary-tribute-to-one-of-frances-most-iconic-cars/
It’s hilarious the author is mentioning a clothing brand being associated with the people america beat in the 40’s without mentioning the car brand and their roots.
Seems like an odd pairing, why would a hyper high end bespoke builder partner with a zombie brand owned by a huge conglomerate sold in suburban malls? Kinda reads like a Levis branded Pagani to me. I sorta wish I was wealthy enough to make this make sense, but I also don’t.
I cannot imagine a less-evocative description for the average person. But I suppose I’m not the target market, and if you Noé you Noé.
Mid year cars, after long hood but before SC are still affordable, iykyk
This makes me grok Eat The Rich.
Jesus, that cabriolet is like a Russian oligarch’s living room mounted on boosted rims. Or the mobile version of the current Oval Office.
Burn it with fire.
It’s been so disappointing to see other publications and people whom I’d previously had a little respect for fawning over these overwrought disasters.
“I didn’t sell out, I bought in, remember that son.”
I can appreciate the artistic value of these cars, but they have lost the script. They started out restomodding 911s performance-wise with upgraded style. These LV abominations are nothing more than an overpriced handbag or luggage masquerading as a vintage sports car.
I know of them from their Glocks.
“With prices of impact-bumper cars and even some of the more common long-hood cars dipping over the past few months, maybe we have hit peak air-cooled 911 frenzy.”
Is this happening? I’ve been looking for a nice 80s driver 911 and I only see prices going up. Well sorted cars go for $80k+ all day long.
These are god-awful abominations.