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Jan 09, 2024

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In the pandemic, everybody is getting a puppy and building a car. And so it was with North Vancouver health care software company founder and car enthusiast Trevor Johnson, who used his computer skills to engage the international community in his quest for the perfect build.

Trevor wanted a classic Porsche the way it would have been built into a rally car more than 50 years ago. It would be all about performance and handling with no frills or creature comforts.

"I love the shape of the Porsche 911 and it was my favourite Hot Wheels car. I always wanted to own one," he says.

After years building his software company, the market for air-cooled Porsche classics had taken off, with soaring prices leaving Trevor behind.

"I was trying to be practical and thought, maybe I could find a really cheap one and fix it up myself," he admits. "But the search took a lot longer than I had anticipated."

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When local searches failed to yield results, he expanded his search radius to include the Seattle market. One day in 2013, a 1983 Porsche 911 popped up for sale on Craigslist in Seattle. It was in rough shape and it was just a body for $6,000. Trevor rented a trailer and drove to Seattle to retrieve it.

The first thing he did was to completely dismantle the car. The interior was a mess and he turfed everything. He used a heat gun and flat blade screwdriver to scrape off all the undercoating and sound dampening. He bought a rotisserie so he could work ergonomically and a small sandblaster to clean the entire undercarriage which he coated with epoxy primer. He needed more powerful sandblasting to take the interior down to bare metal so he found a UBlast company where he could rent the equipment and do it himself. Then he began to get the help and advice he needed to move forward.

"I was posting photos of me sandblasting in my garage on Instagram which people thought was hilarious and got talking to a guy who liked my vision for the car," Trevor says. "He has a shop in Richmond where he restores Porsche 911's and had many connections. Pete at Flatsix Classics has been an amazing resource."

Trevor says of meeting new friends on social media: "He was commenting on every photo and encouraging me to keep up the good work. He offered help, shop space, obscure parts and supported me along with way."

That led to the right body man to turn the 40-year-old Porsche into a wide-bodied rally racer that was street legal. As the body was being massaged, Trevor and friend Ryan Chung worked to restore every piece of the car with either new paint or re-anodizing to get them ready to put back on the car. A connection with a local Porsche mechanic led to the acquisition of a good motor when the Porsche it powered was written off.

"Shopping online was the way to get new and replacement parts. There is a huge 911 scene in California with many parts sources. A company in the Netherlands built my wiring harness," Trevor says.

The colour choice came during a bike ride when Trevor came up behind a 1965 Mustang convertible and liked the colour. "It's Wimbledon White", the Mustang driver shouted from the driver's seat.

Trevor's goal was to complete the car by Father's Day, much to the delight of his 13-year-old son Lewis and 11-year-old daughter Amelia. "They were big cheerleaders for this project," Trevor says.

The car was ready for its first drive on Father's Day. Trevor was joined by his friend Ryan in a yellow 1975 Porsche 911 and Porsche restorer Pete from Richmond driving a 1976 model.

The photos Trevor posted on Instagram documenting every step of the restoration built a community of supporters and made invaluable connections to enthusiasts and Porsche specialists.

"The Porsche community on Instagram is so helpful. Some of the best experts started following my project and would answer my questions when I got stumped. "I found incredible niche suppliers through Instagram for headlights, seats, steering rack restoration, wheels, and many obscure parts."

Trevor has made lasting friendships along the way and now wants to do another project so he can continue to work along with the members of his new community.

"The car turned out even better than I had hoped and has received an amazing reaction through the love it's getting on Instagram," he says. "So many comments that this is their dream car, the perfect build. People love it."

(Alyn Edwards is a classic car enthusiast and partner in Peak Communicators, a Vancouver-based public relations company. [email protected])