mod@tech

Porsche 912s are many things. Classically styled. True descendants of the 356. Well-balanced — the proverbial slow cars that are fun to drive fast. What Porsche 912s aren’t anymore is inexpensive. Twenty years ago, it was possible to pick up a nice, driver-quality example for less than $10,000. As of this writing, classic.com estimated an average value of nearly $52,000 for 1965-’68 short-wheelbase 912s coupes and more than $54,000 for the long-wheelbase ’69. Rarer cars with factory sunroofs, or Targas with soft rear windows, command higher sums and values rise sharply for well restored or excellent-condition examples — those can bring $70,000 to $100,000.

We’re not breaking any news here, of course. It’s more a case of feeling wistful over the missed opportunity to snap up one of these before the air-cooled 911 bubble came along and dragged 912 prices along for the ride. If there is a bright side to this, it’s that 912s are no longer seen as expendable — i.e. parts cars or prime candidates for 911 engine swaps. The higher price of admission has spawned enthusiasm for 912s based on their own merits. It’s also likely leading to more 912s being saved and restored rather than sold off in pieces. Buying a project 912 can be a slippery slope, however. Expect to pay 911-like restoration costs without the higher values when the work is finished.

The 912 was Stuttgart’s way of bridging the gap between the outgoing 356 and the all-new 911. In appearance and architecture, the 912 was the 911’s doppelgänger, but in place of the 911’s overhead-cam flat six, there was a 1.6-liter, pushrod, flat four, like the engine used in the 356 SC. The 912 had 90 hp on tap — 5 hp less than the outgoing SC — and the engine had to push around 2,100 pounds in the new car versus the 1,970-pound 356. So acceleration wasn’t exactly neck-snapping, but less power and weight also meant less of the 911’s snap oversteer to worry about if you suddenly lifted off the throttle in a turn.

Photo: David LaChance

And in the turns the 912 really shined. Its four-cylinder engine lent the car a favorable 45/55 front-to-rear weight distribution. The wheelbase was longer than the 356’s and the body structure was more rigid. The 912’s underpinnings were more modern than the 356’s too: MacPherson struts with lower A-arms and torsion bars up front and semi-trailing arms out back with torsion bars. For ’69 the wheelbase grew 2.4 inches by lengthening the rear trailing arms, making the car even more stable.

When new, the base price of a ’69 912 coupe was $5,235 (according to the 912registry.org). That was a lot of dough at the time, especially considering that a ’69 Corvette with a 300-hp 350 V-8 cost $4,781. But it was also uncomfortably close to the the $5,795 base price of the new entry-level 911T and this likely hurt 912 sales. With the 914 looming on the horizon, Porsche decided to discontinue the 912 after ’69. At the outset, the 912 was wildly popular, though. In ’66, for instance, Porsche sold more than 9,000 912s here compared to 3,700 911s.

A 912 would return for ’76 powered by the Volkswagen engine from the outgoing 914. Porsche made a little more than 2,000 of these 912Es for the U.S. market only — all coupes with fuel-injected 2-liter flat fours.

Interest in air-cooled Porsches doesn’t seem to be waning, even as a younger generation enters the hobby. The 912 might have also shed some of the stigma of being the 911’s kid brother, as air-cooled Porsches moved away from being daily drivers and track cars to being collector cars — not that owners of early Porsches shy away from driving their cars as Stuttgart intended. That said, now might be a good time to shop for a nice 912 before prices rise even higher.

Value Trend

NADA Average prices for a 1969 912 coupe. Add 10-20 percent for a Targa.

It’s not often that your first love lasts a lifetime, but the relationship between Ken Peters and his 1969 Ford Mustang is at 45 years and counting. Ken grew up during a time when muscle cars and pony cars were cheap. Fuel efficiency was all the rage during the late 1970s, so the gas guzzlers of the muscle car era popped up at used car dealerships with low price tags. Insurance premiums for high-performance cars and young drivers continued to rise, causing parents to shy away from introducing their children to the joys of a factory hot rod. Ken Peters was a lucky one — his dad spotted a clean, 37,000-mile Mustang at the local used car lot on his way to work. He and Ken met at the dealership after school, and they ultimately purchased the car for $1,100.

The date was May 15, 1978. It was just a regular Monday for most people, but it was a special day for Ken. His 16^th birthday was approaching, and he just snagged a deal on a slick Mustang. The SportsRoof body made it look fast, even when it was sitting still. The car had some custom touches, including mag wheels and fat Goodyear Polyglas GT tires, and custom stripes that accentuated the body lines, calling attention to the quarter-panel scoops. It was a dream car for a high-school kid, and it lit a fire inside of Ken that still burns to this day.

Smithson Speed and Engineering worked out many of the details on the build, including repairing and preserving the 30-year-old black paint. RideTech suspension brings the ride height down a few inches, while the Magnum 500-styled American Racing wheels offer modern sizing with a vintage look. Photo: Tommy Lee Byrd

The Mustang remained unchanged for many years, which offered a nostalgic feeling, but the car was aging quickly. A complete restoration took place in 1993, going back to a more stock appearance with Magnum 500 wheels and an all-black paint job. Ken was happy with the fresh look, but as time wore on, age started creeping up on the restoration as well. While the car was still functional, Ken yearned for a more practical and fun combination, so he sent the car to a nearby shop, Smithson Speed and Engineering in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Owner and operator Ben Smithson has been around hot rods and muscle cars his entire life, but the truth of the matter was that Ken has owned this Mustang longer than Ben has been alive. The age gap wasn’t an obstacle, as Ken trusted the judgment of the young hot-rodder to take his beloved Mustang and bring some excitement back into the relationship.

Smithson Speed and Engineering made a substantial parts list when the project started in May of 2022, with an understanding that it wouldn’t be a matter of simply bolting new parts in place of the old ones. While the car was apart, it received a tremendous amount of detail work in the engine bay and undercarriage, which makes this car look like a fresh build. The reality is that most of the paint on this car dates to the 1993 restoration. Ben and crew repaired a few paint imperfections and underlying rust issues, and ultimately re-sprayed the doors, roof and quarter panels with fresh clear coat to seal the repairs. From there, it was the daunting task of color sanding the fresh clear and the old clear, and then buffing the finishes until it all looked like it came out of the same paint bucket. The result is a mirror-like black finish. Upgraded lighting comes by way of Holley Retrobright LED headlights and Glass Guy Chicago handled the installation of the windshield and back glass.

The Windsor-based engine features a 4-inch bore and stroke, bringing it to 408 cubic inches. Blueprint Engines built the engine with aluminum heads and a hydraulic roller camshaft, while Smithson Speed and engineering added a Holley Sniper EFI system and backed it all up with a 4R70W overdrive transmission.Photo: Tommy Lee Byrd

“One of the hardest parts of the build was determining the wheel and tire size to go with the new stance, but I think we nailed it,” Ken says. “I love how it looks.” Stance can make or break a restomod build, and that’s where Ben’s experience came into play to dial in the proper ride height, using a complete suspension system from Ridetech. The front-suspension system included tubular control arms, adjustable coilovers and an anti-sway bar. Ben also installed Borgeson steering components to make the car react more quickly.

Out back, Ken’s Mustang features a 9-inch rear end from Speedway Motors, which is packed with 3.70:1 gears, Speedway axles and a limited slip differential. In place of the leaf springs is a four-link rear suspension system from Ridetech. This includes custom brackets, link bars and adjustable coilovers, allowing the ride height to be adjusted to Ken’s liking. In addition to the new handling characteristics, Ken has intense stopping power from Wilwood disc brakes on all four corners. With 13-inch rotors and a combination of six-piston front calipers and four-piston rear calipers, the new setup is a huge upgrade for drivability. The system is fed by a Wilwood Compact Tandem master cylinder and all new brake lines to complete the package.

Although the interior looks mostly stock, there are some hidden tricks, including Vintage Air heat and A/C, a custom stereo system and a Painless wiring harness to power it all. The upholstery was refurbished during the 1993 restoration and still looks great, so Ken kept it as is.Photo: Tommy Lee Byrd

Rolling stock is a big part of any custom build, and the combination on Ken’s Mustang is the perfect representation of a restomod build theme. The wheels are American Racing VN500 — an upsized version of the famous Magnum 500 wheels from yesteryear. The aluminum wheels have a polished finish with black details, and they’re sized at 17×7 inches up front and 17×9 inches in the rear, wrapped in Michelin rubber, sized at 225/45R17 and 275/40R17 respectively.

The horsepower department also received a big upgrade, by way of a BluePrint Engines stroker small block. The Windsor-based engine now comes in at 408 cu.in., thanks to a 4-inch stroker crankshaft. Forged I-beam connecting rods and forged pistons add durability, and a 9.8:1 compression ratio ensures that it will perform well on today’s pump gasoline. BluePrint aluminum cylinder heads feature 2.02- and 1.60-inch valves, and 190-cc intake runners to flow plenty of air. The hydraulic roller camshaft is ground on a 114-degree lobe separation angle and features .579-inch lift and a split duration of 236/248 degrees, measured at .050-inch lift.

New Vintage USA “67 Series” gauges provide information while keeping a vintage look.Photo: Tommy Lee Byrd

Up top is a Holley Sniper EFI system, fed by an in-tank fuel pump, while Holley Hyperspark ignition lights the fire. A set of Doug’s headers lead into a custom 2.5-inch stainless exhaust system, built by Smithson Speed and Engineering. The TIG-welded mandrel bent pipes feature an X-pipe and Magnaflow mufflers for a crisp exhaust note. Additional engine upgrades include a Vintage Air Front Runner serpentine accessory system and an aluminum radiator with dual electric fans from U.S. Radiator. While the engine was out, Smithson Speed and Engineering stripped the engine bay down to the metal and gave it a fresh coat of paint. Behind the 450-horse crate engine is a 4R70W overdrive automatic transmission from East Side Performance in Cookeville, Tennessee.

Although it looks like a stock 1969 Mustang inside, many hours were spent installing creature comforts, including a Vintage Air Surefit A/C and heat system, Dakota Digital cruise control, and a stereo system that consists of a Custom Autosound retro-look head unit with JL Audio amplifier, speakers and subwoofer. New Vintage USA gauges look great in the stock dash, and Smithson Speed and Engineering rewired the entire car with a Painless harness.

Photo: Tommy Lee Byrd

After a year of being combed through from front to back, this car has made its way back on the road. The black Mustang made its debut at the 2023 Goodguys Nashville Nationals, where it was awarded the Ford Muscle Pick. Although Ken didn’t build this car with the sole purpose of winning trophies at car shows, it was certainly a nice surprise on its first outing. Ken and his wife, Nish, plan to take the car on long trips to car shows and cross-country sightseeing. Now that it’s equipped with many modern details, it’s ready to keep the long-term relationship going for many years to come.

Ford recently introduced the bonkers Mustang GTD, a $300,000 street-legal race car with an 800-horsepower supercharged V8, aerodynamic aids that are illegal in the series it will compete in and a completely redone chassis designed to give it the best lap times possible. This new super pony car is not the first time Ford has built a street-legal, track-focused Mustang.

In 1995, the blue oval gang introduced a limited-edition Mustang that required buyers to possess some type of racing license (road racing or drag racing—holding either got your hot Mustang ticket punched). Currently listed on Hemmings Auctions, this 1995 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra R was one of just 250 of these special Mustangs cooked up by the company’s Special Vehicle Team.

Ford introduced an all-new Mustang in 1994, the first major refresh since the 1979 debut of the Fox-body models. Based on the SN95 platform (a.k.a. Fox-4 for its evolution from the Fox platform), the new Mustang offered not only a 215-hp GT variant, but also a Cobra option, powered by the same 240-hp 5.0-liter V8 found in the ’93 Mustang Cobra. The gang at SVT decided that the new platform deserved a top-dog model that would prove the Mustang’s worth at the track.

Enter the Mustang SVT Cobra R for 1995. Based on the standard Cobra, the R ditched the 5.0 for an even more performance-oriented version of the 5.8-liter (351-cu.in.) Windsor V8 found in the contemporary Lightning pickup. Compression was bumped from 8.8:1 to over 9.1:1. A more aggressive camshaft and freer-breathing air-meter body boosted output from 240 horsepower and 325 lb-ft of torque in SVT’s truck to 300 horsepower and 365 lb-ft of torque, both figures representing the highest output small-block Mustang up to that point. The racier Cobra R achieved those power and torque figures at several hundred rpm higher than in the Lightning, a perfectly acceptable trade off in a car destined for track duty.

The Cobra R suspension was based on the standard Mustang and Cobra setup, but with specifications for better lap times, comfort be damned. Higher rate springs and adjustable Koni shocks were fitted, as was a fatter front anti-roll bar. A strut brace connecting the top of the front struts in the engine bay was added to stiffen the unibody structure. Brakes from the standard Cobra were deemed sufficient with 13-inch rotors up front and 11.65-inch rotors in the rear. Unique to the Cobra R were a set of 17-inch alloy wheels.

There were other modifications, such as the use of an exclusive fiberglass hood with a massive center bulge to clear the physically larger engine. A 20-gallon fuel tank (30% larger than the standard GT’s tank) was included as a consideration for the thirstiness of the larger-capacity V8 at the track. A beefier Tremec five-speed was used in place of the standard BorgWarner gearbox and the rear axle final-drive gearing was shorter at 3.27:1 in place of 3.08 gears.

A larger radiator was also installed in the engine bay, as were airbags for the driver and passenger given the car’s street-legal status, but lots of other bits were removed for weight reduction, including the rear seat, radio, air conditioning, power windows, power locks, power mirrors, the sound insulation and even the fog lamps, whose absence allowed for the ducting of cool air to the brakes. All 250 Cobra Rs produced were coupes finished in Crystal White. Inside, the interior was a bit jarring with the Saddle (tan) interior treatment, including big sections of the door interiors, the dashboard, the carpet and other trim all punctuated with black fabric seats.

Faster acceleration and faster lap times were both achieved with the Cobra R. Road tests of the day praised the overall fatter torque curve of the 5.8/351 V8 and the confidence that the suspension, brakes and tires all delivered. But despite Ford’s efforts to ensure that all the Cobra Rs produced would end up in the hands of racers who would put the cars through their paces as the engineers had intended, plenty of them did end up parked as collector cars.

All 250 cars were spoken for within five days of its January 2, 1995 on sale date. In the time before internet sales of such limited vehicles were measured in minutes or hours, the Cobra R was an instant success. The Cobra R carried a $37,099 sticker price from Ford, which included the regular SVT Cobra’s “standard vehicle price” of $21,300 plus $13,699 for the “R Competition Option” and a stout $2,100 gas guzzler tax.

Seemingly immediately, the speculators were out in full force, offering the limited-production high-performance cars at a significant premium over Ford’s already beefed-up price. Over the years, plenty of other Mustangs have bested the ’95 Cobra R in performance and power, but the appeal of this track-focused car with the last of the high-performance pushrod V8s is undeniable.

This 1995 Cobra R was apparently traded in by its original owner after just 300 miles due to the lack of air conditioning. From there, it was acquired by the seller’s brother and later the seller himself. With less than 5,700 miles showing on the odometer at the time of its listing, it remains a very low mileage example.

The seller shares that it has been used at a few track days at Watkins Glen International raceway in upstate New York. Modifications from stock include the installation of Recaro seats (a definite must from the stock Mustang chairs for track use), Simpson five-point harnesses, Baer brakes, a BBK exhaust and a different anti-roll bar. According to the seller, the car otherwise remains in stock condition.

At the very least, this track-focused Mustang did get used at the track. Fortunately, if you fancy yourself behind the wheel of this very limited production, high-performance Mustang with one of Ford’s most powerful small-block pushrod V8s, you no longer need a license. Head on over to Hemmings Auctions to find more detail on this 1995 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra C.