The story of the Nunes family and Porsche, which led to the stunning 911 SPC you see here today, traces its roots back to the 1960s. It was then that Andre Nunes’ grandfather, Americo, began his journey as a panel beater apprentice at a local Porsche dealership. It wasn’t long before his Porsche rally and racing career took off when he developed a fondness for a neglected 356 in desperate need of repairs. After getting it roadworthy—or at least track-ready—Americo entered the car in local weekend events, marking the start of a legendary motorsport legacy.
In short, from these modest beginnings, Americo Nunes went on to become a ten-time Portuguese rally champion, cementing his status as a legend among the country’s motorsport enthusiasts. His success extended beyond rallying, with victories in circuit racing as well. He prepared and raced several iconic Porsches, including a 356 Carrera 2000 GS/GT (one of only two ever built), a 906, a 911 Carrera 2.7 RS, and a 911 S/T.
Americo’s son, Jorge, didn’t pursue rallying or racing to the same extent, but he upheld the family’s Porsche legacy. In the 1980s, he gained recognition for developing and selling 356 Speedster replicas built on VW Beetle chassis, while also servicing Porsches in Lisbon. In the mid-1990s, recognizing a gap in the market due to the absence of an official Porsche dealer in Portugal, Jorge founded SportClasse, a workshop specializing in Porsche service and maintenance, classic restorations, and race car preparation.
In 2024, as the company celebrates its thirtieth anniversary, Jorge’s son, Andre, sees it as the perfect occasion to introduce a new creation from the SportClasse workshop—something far more advanced than a replica 356 Speedster: the 911 SPC (an abbreviation of SportClasse).
Background & Build
The SPC project is far more than a simple backdate with sleek marketing. It has taken nearly five years to evolve from a wistful idea into a running prototype, and finally into a small fleet of already-sold cars. Andre had been thinking about and planning the project throughout his motorsport engineering studies in the UK. From the start, his goal was to create a car that bridged generations—one that felt like the 911s his grandfather rallied, but with all the comforts and luxuries of a modern build. Basic, yet beautiful. Stripped down, but not bare. A Porsche without driving aids, where the driver controls everything, but without the harshness of a pure competition car.
Andre sees the 1974-1989 G-series 911 as the ideal starting point for the SPC project. “It’s still an affordable model for such a build,” he explains, “which can’t be said as easily for the later 964 (1989-1993) or the earlier F-series (1973) cars.” However, he notes that the 911 SPC treatment can be applied to any air-cooled 911, from the earliest examples to the final 993.
Conveniently, a 1980 911 3.0 SC had been sitting in Andre’s workshop, once a rally and track car, but it had spent five years gathering dust, awaiting a full restoration. Andre had a different vision for it. The first and least technically challenging step was to strip the car down to its component parts, address any damaged or corroded areas of the shell, and reinforce key sections to increase rigidity and give the chassis added stiffness.
The engine for this SPC came from the donor 3.0 SC, but it underwent much more than a standard rebuild. Andre took inspiration from Porsche’s revered RSR, one of the most iconic and collectible classic race cars. He rebuilt the engine with dual ignition, twin spark plugs per cylinder, and a higher flow intake, while increasing the displacement from 3.0 to 3.6 liters. An electronic fuel injection system with high butterfly throttle bodies was also installed. With electronic distribution, the engine produces around 320 hp, which Andre considers powerful yet not excessive.
The engine is paired with a fully rebuilt Type 915 five-speed gearbox, which Andre is confident can easily handle the increased power, given Porsche’s reputation for strong, reliable transmissions. With the current gearing, the top speed is around 160 mph, but straight-line speed was never the main focus. The 911 SPC isn’t designed as a freeway cruiser; the priority was always raw drivability.
SportClasse has built four 911 SPCs so far, all with steel panels, which Andre feels pay homage to his grandfather’s panel-beating days. Among them is our striking Mint Green test car. However, a fifth car is currently in the works, this time with carbon-fiber panels. Swapping steel for this modern material provides a 30 percent increase in strength while reducing weight by 30 percent compared to the all-steel versions. Andre is leaning toward the carbon-fiber option as his favorite, believing it better reflects the 911 SPC project’s blend of modern and classic. The carbon-fiber panels result in a weight saving of 220 to 330 pounds, significant for a car that weighs around 2,400 pounds.
When it came to suspension, Andre had a wide range of options to consider. Given that the SPC was partly conceived as a tribute to Americo Nunes’ rallying days, Bilstein was an obvious choice. However, finding the right setup involved considerable trial and error. After several vigorous test drives on local mountain roads, Andre found that the Rally and Racing set was too stiff for a car intended for daily use. He opted for the Sport set instead, which offers a good balance of stability without necessitating frequent visits to the chiropractor. The car now sits significantly lower than before, and this lower center of gravity contributes to its exceptional handling—something we’ll explore further.
For the wheels, a crucial element in defining a car’s look, Andre acknowledges that Fuchs alloys are often considered the quintessential choice for a Porsche. However, he felt they might look a bit dated for the 911 SPC. Embracing the project’s theme of blending modern and classic, he opted for a more contemporary design with cleaner lines. At 17 inches, these wheels are slightly larger, giving the car a more assured stance. They are wrapped in Pirelli P-Zero tires, with 225/45-17s on the front and 255/40-17s on the rear. While the SPC prototype features original RSR brakes, the production models are equipped with four-piston Brembo calipers for improved stopping power.
Another crucial aspect of the driving experience in a special car like the 911 SPC is its sound. For this, Andre drew inspiration from his grandfather’s rally cars. In the 1970s, some of Americo’s successful 2.4S rally cars featured a distinctive “banana” exhaust. This setup includes three exits: two straight pipes in the middle and one pipe on the left that passes through the silencer. By removing the caps from the two middle pipes, the exhaust bypasses the muffler, allowing the engine to breathe more freely and producing a significantly louder, more aggressive sound.
“I spent a lot of time figuring out how to integrate a switch from the driver’s seat to control the exhaust valves,” Andre explains with a knowing, yet self-deprecating smile. He takes pride in the end result. For that exhilarating, visceral driving experience, you can set the switch to bypass, unleashing a raw, aggressive sound. For more mundane driving, like on the highway, where prolonged drone might become tiresome, a simple flick of the switch instantly quiets things down.
While much of the car pays subtle homage to the Nunes family history, the light mounted on the back is an open tribute to his Americo’s rally cars.
“It allowed him to have illumination at night so he could see if any maintenance was needed at the back of the car,” Andre explains. “It was quite common in the ’60s, and it seemed like a perfect bridge between every generation of our Nunes family.” All the lights on the car are now LEDs. “It makes a huge difference,” he adds. “You can actually see where you’re going at night, which is a novel experience for a decades-old Porsche.”
Andre confesses his obsession with details, and he’s currently perfecting the design of the key fob, which is a miniature version of the 911 SPC. This isn’t just a Hot Wheels model; he 3D scanned the entire car to create an accurate scale replica. “I think it’s a perfect little detail,” he says. “But it’s taken several weeks to get just right, as I’m always striving for perfection.” Another example of his attention to detail is the front trunk.
“I spent many hours 3D scanning it, redesigning and reshaping the lining so I could make it more modern and look more organized,” Andre explains. “Originally, Porsche covered it in a simple piece of fabric, but now with pieces cut to an exact and complicated design, I think it looks so much better.” Andre’s intention is to make each 911 SPC absolutely bespoke for every client, starting from the tires up.
“Any air-cooled 911 can be made into a 911 SPC,” he explains. “I am currently working on a 4.0. The body can be sleek, or have a whale tail, and of course, pretty much any suspension set-up anyone wants.” This goes for the interior as well, and there is an almost limitless choice from standard leather and Alcantara, to fully custom patterns. For the first prototype, he chose a Slate Grey body with a red leather interior.
“When my father was a child, this was his favorite color and it reminded him of being a young boy in the workshop,” says Andre. “I chose to make the prototype in this combination as another was of showing that this is a family project.” The colors will be chosen by the clients, but Andre is a fan of the bright colors Porsche was known for in the 1960s and ’70s. He’s already made an orange 911 SPC, but the Mint Green one with the duck tail looks sensational. The underlining design remit for the 911 SPC was simply, yet critically, for it to be a pure Porsche.
Not everyone wants to be reminded of the rawness of a sports car with every drive, so Andre installed high-quality soundproofing to minimize unwanted road noise. Despite this, he usually drives with the windows down, as he never grows tired of the sound of a tuned flat-six, a familiar pleasure from growing up with Porsches in the family.
The Drive & Verdict
It’s quite a journey from Lisbon, navigating stop-and-go traffic to reach roads that truly let a Porsche shine. As we cruise along the stunning coast road, Andre demonstrates the exhaust switch, which lets the 3.6-liter engine at the rear produce that iconic flat-six roar.
The car is equipped with a high-end sound system and a Porsche Classsic retro radio. Andre notes that Porsche understands the importance of offering retro-inspired components and sees value in updating these units for modern use. The interior is adorned with caramel Alcantara and leather, accentuated by subtle chrome trim, creating a sophisticated and cohesive look.
Not far west of Lisbon lie the stunning mountains around Sintra, a name familiar to World Rally Championship fans from the 1980s and ’90s, where Group B rally cars were famously driven through these narrow roads to the cheers of enthusiastic crowds. With the exhaust on bypass and the windows down, I cannot help but grin as Andre powers through the hairpin bends. The 320 horsepower of the SPC is significantly more than the 911 SC/RSs that once rallied on these very roads in the mid-’80s.
The 911 SPC feels incredibly sure-footed. Despite the lateral forces pressing me into my Recaro Sport seat, there is no noticeable body roll. As its flicked left and right, hugging the narrow roads close to the stone walls that guard against the steep drop-offs, the SPC remains perfectly poised—reminiscent of the few factory SC/RSs I’ve had the pleasure of driving. But once we reach a quaint hillside village and return to the main road with the exhaust closed off, it suddenly feels like a car from just a few years ago, not decades. This car has a split personality—it’s a beast in disguise!
Back in the workshop, we take a moment to admire the car. The dictionary definition of a backdated car is the fusion of modern technology with a respectful nod to the past. However, Andre’s creation goes beyond that. It represents three generations of Porsche passion and expertise, woven into a family legacy. This journey began in the 1960s when Andre’s grandfather repaired a damaged 356, continued with his father founding SportClasse thirty years ago, and culminates in the remarkable 911 SPC. It’s a testament to heritage, innovation, and the enduring bond of family across the decades.
