A custom, classic Porsche, sporting PPG paintwork, was awarded the Chic Henry Memorial Grand Champion sword at Summernats 35.
Built by the Real Steel Group in Canberra and owned by Livi Krevatin, the 1978 Porsche 911 SC was a bare shell build featuring several custom touches. According to Steve Mommsen, Director at the Real Steel Group, the Porsche perfectly captures his company’s philosophy of combining cutting-edge technology with old-school coachbuilding craftsmanship.
“A lot of people don’t realise this car was actually built as a street car, not as a show car. It might be a 1978 model, but our vision was to create the look and feel as if it was being built today as a modern car. It ticks all the boxes. I see it as a real compliment when people say it looks like a late model Porsche when the car is actually 45 years old,” said Mommsen.
According to Mommsen, the Real Steel Group’s focus on quality has driven its longstanding partnership with PPG. “This epic Porsche is a great example of our work – it was painted from the bare shell upwards in PPG products. Our painter, David ‘Naz’ Narik, put together a colour board of samples he had prepared using PPG tinters and presented it to the owner. He loved it and it made it easy to choose the final colour,” he said.
In winning the award, the Porsche was subjected to an exhaustive programme of judged categories, including paintwork quality, engineering and bodywork, and a two-phase driving event.