For the love of air-cooled Porsche 911s

By Charlie Calderwood

| 18 Jun 2026

Classic & Sports Car – The specialist: Early 911S

Nothing can prepare you for the scale of entering Early 911S.

There have been car factories that are smaller, with less inventory, than this Wuppertal premises in Germany’s Rhineland.

Only the Porsche 911, a car that is unusually valuable for something built in such volume, could support an operation like this.

The huge demand for well-restored elfers is made clear by how select Early 911S can afford to be, despite a throughput of about 170 cars in restoration at any one time.

This classic car specialist stops at the 993 generation, the last Porsche 911s to be air-cooled, and work is done only to factory spec (although minor trim modifications and similar are catered for).

Porsche projects stacked high in the Early 911S workshop

If you want your classic Porsche 911 restomodded or prepared for motorsport, you’ll need to go elsewhere.

What really excites the team here at Early 911S are the rare factory variants.

That includes the few competition cars you see at this specialist – all genuine works examples being built to original specifications.

In the company’s main showroom is the car Åke Andersson drove to third in the 1967 Gulf London Rally, fresh from a meticulous restoration, along with a uniquely mint-green-coloured 911 built for the Porsche family and six of the few Porsche 901s in private hands – a 911 so early it isn’t called a 911.

Departures from classic 911 work include this 1950s Porsche Jagdwagen, intended for military use

For the really weird stuff, the firm will even stray beyond the Porsche 911.

When we visit, one of the seven Porsche B32s ever built is here – a Type 3 van fitted with 911 Carrera 3.2 running gear.

There are also several Porsche-built off-roaders, including a handful of Jagdwagens, a Kübelwagen-like machine of which only 71 were built in an unsuccessful attempt to win a Bundeswehr contract.

The company’s aftersales manager, Daniel Neumann, has a passion for unusually coloured 911s – he points out a Mexico Blue G-model Speedster that’s one of just three built, then he stops at a stripped, freshly painted bodyshell.

Racks of Porsche flat-sixes ready to be rebuilt at Early 911S

“It’s a pleasure for us to do it in the original way,” Daniel enthuses. “We copy how the factory would paint little bits of black or grey around certain seams inside the tub.”

This obsession with authenticity is more than just an arbitrary fascination for the business here at Early 911S, it reflects Germany’s strict modification rules that require every single non-standard part to be tested by a TÜV authority.

“We do it very well, and we’re doing lots of cars, so we are sure they will work worldwide,” says Daniel. “About 60-70% of our cars go for export.”

Porsche Classic’s extensive catalogue makes building to original specification much easier, with OE parts availability most classic owners could only dream of.

Classic Porsches in (almost) every colour of the rainbow at Early 911S

But the real edge of Early 911S is its unrivalled spares store: vast shelving units run down either side of a huge hall stacked three bodyshells high – there are 200 of the best-condition bodies in here, plus another 300 outside.

Between them are 1500 Euroboxes full of everything from bumpers to interior trim pieces, all reserved for customer cars.

Another long room houses gearboxes and engines, all awaiting in-house reconditioning.

This is a very special, albeit quite niche (in the best way) treasure trove.

“We try to use original parts and restore them,” Daniel says. “When you buy only new ones, the restoration can become too expensive – and many are not as good as old parts, anyway.”

A typical F-series Porsche 911 rebuild takes 2000-2500 hours

Founded relatively recently, back in 2006, Early 911S now employs 85 people, all beginning from founder Manfred Hering’s frustration at the restoration process of an Aston Martin and a Porsche 911 he owned – that Manfred ultimately chose to focus on the German car should disappoint Aston owners everywhere.

Almost every part of the restoration, whether it’s the bodywork, interior trimming, painting, wiring or engine building, is handled in-house.

Best of all, there is a strong sense of long-term thinking here, be it in the gargantuan spares supply or in a large cohort – currently 17 – of keen apprentices.

Images: Max Edleston