Singer Vehicle Design: History and Key Projects Presented by Singer

A look at Singer Vehicle Design, its history, and Porsche 911 projects presented by Singer, including DLS Turbo, Carrera Coupe, Cabriolet, and ACS.

Founded in 2009, Singer Vehicle Design has grown from a small California studio into one of the most recognisable names in the world of reimagined classic Porsche 911s. From the beginning, the company built its work around air-cooled 911s based on the Type 964. Singer’s process goes far beyond a conventional restoration: each donor car is stripped back to its monocoque, the chassis is reinforced, carbon-fiber body panels are fitted, and the car is then rebuilt as a blend of historic design and modern engineering.

That formula is what made the studio famous. Singer developed a philosophy centered on precision, personalisation, and close attention to every detail. On its official site, the company describes this approach with phrases such as “Everything is Important” and “Luxury Through Choice”. In practice, that means almost every Singer project becomes more than a restored car; it turns into a highly individual machine shaped around the preferences of its owner.

The studio’s story unfolded in several stages. After its early restorations, Singer expanded its offering with all-wheel-drive and Targa versions before moving into a new phase with the DLS, or Dynamics and Lightweighting Study. That project became one of the defining chapters in the company’s history. Introduced in 2018 and developed with Williams Advanced Engineering, the DLS focused on reducing weight, refining aerodynamics, and exploring how far an air-cooled 911 could be taken in a modern interpretation. According to RM Sotheby’s auction materials, the DLS series was limited to 75 cars, and it was this program that firmly established Singer’s reputation as a company that had pushed the restomod segment into a new category.

The next major step was Singer’s move into turbocharged cars. In 2022, the company introduced its Classic Turbo services, drawing direct inspiration from the 930 Turbo. The idea was to reinterpret the image of the classic turbo Porsche, complete with visual references such as the whale tail and shark fin, while combining them with modern engineering. Singer officially listed a 3.8-liter twin-turbo flat-six, a six-speed manual gearbox, rear-wheel drive, and outputs of either 450 or 510 horsepower. With that program, the studio made it clear that its interest in Porsche heritage was not limited to naturally aspirated cars.

The logical continuation of that direction was the DLS Turbo program. In January 2026, Singer revealed the first completed customer car from that line, known as Sorcerer. Published specifications described a 3.8-liter twin-turbo flat-six producing 700 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque, with the project drawing inspiration from the Porsche 934/5 endurance racers of the late 1970s. Even so, Singer stayed true to its core idea: a manual gearbox, rear-wheel drive, and an emphasis not only on power figures but on the character of the car itself.

At the same time, the company continued to develop its naturally aspirated line. In May 2025, Singer introduced the Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe Reimagined by Singer, a new interpretation of the Carrera wide-body theme from the 1980s. It uses a 4.0-liter naturally aspirated flat-six with four valves per cylinder, variable valve timing, water-cooled cylinder heads, and air-cooled cylinders. Output was quoted at 420 horsepower, with the engine revving beyond 8,000 rpm, and the program was limited to 100 commissions. In February 2026, Singer followed that with the Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet Reimagined by Singer, an open-top version built around the same engine concept, a new lightweight folding roof in a Z-pattern design, and a limit of 75 commissions.

These programs show that Singer is no longer defined by a single formula. The company is now developing several parallel directions: lighter and sharper DLS-based cars, turbocharged interpretations, and a new generation of naturally aspirated Carreras reimagined with modern engineering. Yet the foundation remains the same — the Porsche 964, deep personalisation, and meticulous hand-built execution.

Partnerships have played a major role in that growth. Singer worked with Cosworth on its newer naturally aspirated engines. In electronics and active safety systems, the company partnered with Bosch. In 2026, Singer also officially announced a collaboration with Red Bull Advanced Technologies. According to Singer, that work led to the creation of 13 carbon-fiber reinforcements and a 175 percent increase in torsional rigidity for its open cars. That detail matters because it shows how a studio once viewed mainly as a design-led restoration specialist is now operating more clearly as a serious engineering player as well.

Another important chapter in Singer’s history is the ACS, or All-terrain Competition Study. It was one of the company’s most unusual projects: a radically reworked 911 developed for off-road and rally use and closely linked with Tuthill Porsche. The ACS generated major attention, but it also became part of a wider dispute over branding and Singer’s relationship with Porsche. On its official site, Singer continues to stress that it is not affiliated with Porsche and uses the Porsche name only for reference purposes. That episode remains telling: as Singer became more visible, questions about the boundary between reinterpreting a classic car and the corporate identity of the original manufacturer became sharper.

By 2025 and 2026, Singer had reached a very different scale from where it started. The company reported more than 600 employees across California and the United Kingdom, marked its 300th restoration in California, and expanded owner support through its Global Partner Network. In January 2025, Raj Nair was appointed CEO, another sign that the business had entered a more mature phase of development.

Against that backdrop, Singer stands as more than a workshop for expensive restorations. It has become one of the defining studios of the modern restomod era. In a relatively short time, the company moved from being a California enthusiast project to becoming a name whose cars are discussed almost as events in their own right. And judging by the recent launches of the Carrera Coupe, the Carrera Cabriolet, and the first customer DLS Turbo, Singer now appears to be in a phase not of repeating its formula, but of expanding and complicating it further.