MOTORING NEWS - Restoring and upgrading old Porsche 911s has become a cottage industry, but no one does it like Voitures Extravert.
The Dutch company was founded to keep these classic sports cars on the road even if internal combustion should one day be banned from European city centres.
So Voitures Extravert takes out the stock flat-six engines and replaces them with electric powertrains.
The company calls its electric 911 the Quintessenza - and it's available in two configurations. The Quintessenza SE is styled to look like a 1960s 911, while the Quintessenza TE borrows styling features from later 1980s models.
Voitures Extravert uses original 911s that would be uneconomic to restore otherwise. The company's car-mad owners don't want to rip up pristine cars.
Both Quintessenza models sport a 60kWh battery pack that provides a claimed range of 400km. Voitures Extravert also claims a 0 to 100km time of 6,0 seconds and a top speed of 200km.
That isn't lightning fast by modern standards, but appropriate for cars from the era and even good considering the added weight of the batteries.
Voitures Extravert distributes the battery cells in the car, allowing for a claimed 50/50 front/rear weight distribution.
That's a major achievement for a 911, as these cars are originally tail-heavy due to their rear-mounted engines.
Voiture Extravert also fits its cars with upgraded brakes and adjustable dampers, as well as convenience items like power steering and air conditioning.
One of Voitures Extravert's electric 911s will set you back about R4,3-million at current exchange rates. That price does include the cost of the donor car, which Voitures Extravert sources. The finished product comes with a five year or 99 000km warranty.
Voitures Extravert plans to build only five cars this year, all of which are already sold. The company is taking orders for next year's production run of 12 cars. By 2020, Voitures Extravert hopes to be completing three cars per month.
