What started as a small hot rod workshop in Sun Valley, California back in 2009 by Rob Dickinson (British former lead guitarist for 90s band The Catherine Wheel), has become Singer Vehicle Design, a thriving global luxury brand with nearly 700 employees across two continents and in excess of 500 Porsche 911s reimagined by Singer delivered worldwide to date.
Back then Rob was filled with hopes, dreams, little a bit of fantasy and his vision to present the best version possible of a Porsche 911. Rob’s motto is still ‘Everything Is Important’ and each new commission represents the relentless pursuit of excellence by all who work at Singer.
“I don’t care how much it is. Magnificence has a high price,” according to Rob, who usually says “F*&k it, we’ll do it anyway in the belief that people will get it as that’s the mad optimism that Singer was built on.” A lot of this optimism Rob puts down to living in California and the cliche of the American dream. In his mind he would never have dreamt up the idea to create Singer if he was still living under the grey skies in England.
For clients fortunate enough to call one of Singer’s restorations their own, the process takes somewhere in the region of two to three years from the time they hand Singer their donor Type 964 Porsche 911, and comes with a price tag in the millions of dollars. The result presented at the end to the owner is a highly personalised and exquisitely executed restoration of an analogue sports car that can be enjoyed on the road and race track.
“It’s amazing living vicariously through these folks that have trusted Singer with a lot of money to build them something special and it has allowed us to build a reputation of restoring cars in the silliest way, to try and make a living. But building cars to hopefully bring some joy and building a reputation or understanding for what Singer stands for, is what gives the company opportunity for the future,” said Rob at a recent exclusive media event held in Melbourne.
As part of the world tour for the latest service of restorations that Singer have embarked on, the Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe Reimagined by Singer that debuted at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, this first example was recently shown in Melbourne at Zagame Automotive, the Australian representative for the Californian company.
Just 100 examples of Singer’s Carrera Coupe services will be undertaken and all allocations for the restoration services have already been sold with the first restorations beginning in late 2026 and deliveries to start in 2028. The inspiration for this next line of Singer restorations comes from the naturally aspirated widebody G models of the Porsche 911 that were manufactured between 1984 and 1989.
“The ‘poster child’ of the G model was the Turbo with its pumped-up body work, so we have kept the pumped-up look of our Classic Turbo services, taken the wing off it and made it into a compact, torquey, punchy, normally aspirated version that is almost a reimagining of the first car we originally restored back in 2009,” Rob shared.
The Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe Reimagined by Singer is powered by a naturally aspirated flat six engine that has been restored and developed by Singer with engineering from Cosworth that produces 420HP with lots of mid-range torque. With a 4.0L capacity, 4-valves per cylinder, variable valve timing, water-cooled cylinder heads, air-cooled cylinders and an electrically powered fan. This engine’s features allow it to develop power and torque across a wider range of engine speeds, while enabling owners in a growing range of countries to restore their cars through Singer’s services.
“This engine has given us the ability to future proof Singer and we will be able to offer a naturally aspirated engine around the world for the next 10-15 years depending on legislation and at last we can once again offer a normally aspirated car something we haven’t been able to do for the last three years,” added Rob.
This Celeste Passalacqua example of the reimagined Carrera Coupe is the Touring specification, offering a refined and understated presentation, but owners can also specify the Sport version that includes a bigger front and rear spoiler, similar to spoiler applied in Singer’s Classic Turbo services, which adds aerodynamic downforce. Or as some clients have done, order both, with the extra downforce pieces stored in a box so they effectively have two cars in one.
For the first time, on any Porsche reimagined by Singer, this car has been fitted with pop-up headlights, one of the client’s requests to Singer’s “Special Wishes Department” as they had an old Ferrari from the late 1960s with something similar. Special engineering projects like this are expensive to develop, but are an important part of responding to owners’ request for personalisation, which is central to Singer’s philosophy. Around half of the owners who have secured a restoration slot for the Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe Reimagined by Singer have selected them.
This restoration is currently Rob’s favourite, saying “I know, I would say that wouldn’t I?” with a chuckle when I asked him and he is very proud of this vehicle and that it has been received positively. Rob is particularly fond of the pop-up headlights because they were extremely difficult to execute and have turned out really well. He went on further to explain that this restoration has come together nicely and represents the Singer mindset of bettering what they do every time a new restoration is completed. There’s serious engineering and horsepower behind their vehicles now, which is starting to make a difference so each car is like, “Wow!” said Rob.
Rob’s fixation with Italy meant he wanted to present this car with a bit of Italian flair and quiet luxury with inspiration also taken from couture and the latest happenings in the fashion world. This explains the Mars Pink leather and velvet interior corduroy of this restoration that features two firsts for Singer. The use of corduroy, something Porsche used in a lot of their interiors from the 1960s and 70s and the burnished edging.
This burnishing process involves bringing two pieces of leather together, sanding and polishing the edges and painting them in a colour that is the same tone of the leather. It came about through discussions with the interiors and design teams who were exploring ways to create a minimalist, but also luxurious approach to the leather trimming inside the cars and draws inspiration from leatherworking techniques used on high-end leather goods.
Vivian Fung is the Design and Project Coordinator at Singer specialising in design and mapping out the intricate bespoke weaves and closely works with Andy Harrison, the Director of Interiors. Vivian’s patience, steady hand, and eye for perfection are behind this one-of-kind car interior. To complete the burnishing process for the seams on one seat alone takes approximately 36 hours. The full interior required more than 400 hours to complete, including doors, seats, gear shift gaiter, instrument panels and more and this is on top of the time taken to sew and make the seats. Due to the physicality of the work the creators could not do it for eight hours straight and it was, “Driving them crazy,” according to Andy.
“Singer have created quite the statement with this interior and have set a bench mark for all interiors within the automotive industry,” said Andy.
Most interior seams of the leather are folded inwards and then stitched, this hides the leather edges within the seam. To create the burnished edges, Vivian used a style of seam that leaves an exposed, unfinished leather edge. Once the leather is sewn, the next step is fine sanding of the edges until a smooth finish is achieved. A sealant is then hand-brushed onto the leather seal to create a foundation for the paint. Coloured paint is then applied, again by hand, with up to four coats needed to achieve the required level of finish. To make this technique work, the stitching must be extremely precise, so every panel is individually tailored for the correct fit. It’s a very labour-intensive process explained Vivian.
“You have to sand the edges of the semi-aniline leather down until every seam is perfect and aligned. Every pass must be consistent, because even the smallest slip will stand out visually and physically. It gets to a point where your eyes can’t see any more due to the concentration and at one point my back was so sore that I couldn’t stand up. So, I ended up laying a blanket on the ground and sitting on the floor while doing the edge painting,” Vivian told Driven Women Magazine.
Vivian admits it was one of the more challenging interiors she has worked on, easily in her top five. But at the same time, that challenge is what made it so rewarding for Vivian, because the final result was something truly special and unique. Much like a couture garment, the seat is crafted to complement the contours of the human form. The seat is designed for stability and it fits snug and secure, like a second skin that holds the driver and passenger steady when carving around the track.
“The seat foam becomes like a dress form, guiding the shape and flow of the material. The leather is maneuvered and coaxed until it rests neatly against every curve. Each step is important, the stitching must hold the ideal balance of tension and width: not too tight, not too loose, not too wide, and not too narrow,” said Vivian.
Studying at the Fashion Institute of Technologies Vivian worked with many famous designs including Michael Kors among others and her certificate program was leatherwork. During Covid Vivian created her own wallets and key chains that she sold on Etsy, while also looking for work. She saw the new Singer Torrance facility was having a hiring fair and decided to check it out knowing nothing about Singer before she went there and deciding to just to show up. Vivian discovered it was wonderful and not what she was expecting at all.
That was three and half years ago and what Vivian enjoys most about working with Singer is the creative challenge of bringing each client’s personal vision to life within these iconic and classic Porsches.
“Every project is different from colours to materials and trims with the finest details, ensuring that weave integrates seamlessly together. I love how we get to blend craftsmanship and creativity to make something that feels truly one-of-a-kind for the client.
Watching each build come to life, from the initial design, to working with the render team and then actually physically sewing it and putting it together is so special. And in the end the result looking so good and knowing that the clients are really happy with it, is another rewarding feeling,” said Vivian.
Vivian also worked on the handbag that went with this commission and it was designed to mirror the car’s interior, from the leather and lining to the hardware and woven details. She especially enjoyed mixing the edge paint finishings to harmonise the interior with the accessory, creating a seamless connection between the car and the handbag.
“It was incredibly fun and fulfilling to work on this Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe Reimagined by Singer and seeing it displayed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Being part of such a special project, where every detail was thoughtfully crafted, was a true highlight and a great example of what makes working at Singer Vehicle Design so rewarding,” concluded Vivian.
Many of the employees at Singer have had a long tenure there, Seamus Taaffe is now a Singer Brand Ambassador, proudly refers to himself as “employee number five” and has been there from the beginning. Rob hires good people and lets them do what they do best and does not micromanage them in the hope they understand the mission and to this he leads by example.
“The reason why I think so many employees stay with Singer a long time is because it’s exciting and there’s audacity involved in what we do. There’s a little bit of disruption, which employees love, and an attraction to something that is clearly growing,” said Rob.
“It’s a dream, it’s a fantasy and somehow, we make it real and I hope it doesn’t stop,” and neither do we Rob.
Photographs by Driven Women Magazine except those photographs provided by Singer Vehicle Design of Vivian Fung and the matching handbag.