Electric conversions for classic cars are mostly cut from the same cloth. The offending drivetrain is removed, an electric drivetrain replaces it, and nothing about the car is really the same besides its vintage aesthetic. It doesn’t drive like it did originally nor weigh like it did originally, but at least it has no tailpipe emissions. That isn’t what Sacrilege Motors wanted, and, at least on paper, that definitely isn’t what it’s created.
The Connecticut-based company has partnered with Fellten, one of the premier providers of electric conversion hardware, to transform a 1992 Porsche 911 America Roadster into an EV. Company president Bobby Singh considers it paramount to preserve the “exhilarating driving experience that’s familiar to air-cooled 911 enthusiasts.” As such, the company’s first electric 911 build, with 200 miles of range, weighs just 3,200 pounds. That’s only about 170 pounds heavier than the original car. More like carrying an extra passenger than carrying another car around.
Known as the “Blackbird” commission, this very first conversion charges its 62kWh battery pack with a CCS connector like any other EV. It offers 500 horsepower through a modified Tesla Model S motor, which now features a limited-slip differential. The suspension has been changed as well to fine-tune the car’s behavior and account for the slightly increased weight. The front suspension features two-way inverted custom Penske race shocks, while the rear has three-way adjustables, also from Penske, with remote reservoirs. The brakes are slotted Brembos all around.
Singh isn’t on a high horse when it comes to electrification. He is, after all, a Porsche fanatic. He’s already deeply involved in restoring Porsche 911s to concourse quality, doing stuff like engine-out rebuilds on 959s. It’s no surprise, then, that the Blackbird will be formally unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in Monterey next weekend. “I’m not telling anyone to give up internal combustion,” he said in a press release. “What we are doing at Sacrilege is we’re just adding an electric power option to your analog quiver of fun.”
The young company insists that “you have to drive it to believe it.” I think that’s a great challenge. Most other EV conversions don’t make the claims Sacrilege does. They also aren’t completed by people like Singh, and the company’s equally enthusiastic CEO Phil Wagenheim. Both say they “caught the Porsche bug early.” I get the feeling that might translate into an EV conversion that’s finally worth tearing around a track.
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