Theon Design: Reimagining the Classic Porsche 911 for a New Era

In 2024, Hagerty’s Future of Driving survey found that almost half of the respondents were interested in owning a classic car, including 60 per cent of Gen Z participants. With that generation’s anxiety over climate change, it may seem paradoxical, but a craving for nostalgia that can be integrated into the current day can be seen throughout Gen Z’s fashion choices, analogue musical tastes, and return to flip phones.

One company ensuring that classic cars are up to the challenges of the modern world is Theon Design, a manufacturer specializing in the restoration and renovation of air-cooled Porsche 911s. Theon is based in England’s Motorsport Valley, a stretch of land predominantly in the Midlands that plays host to numerous auto manufacturers and the home bases of six Formula One teams, including Mercedes-AMG, McLaren, and Red Bull Racing.

Theon specializes in “restomods”—restoration modifications—in which the frame is retained, and the original look and design of the car are kept intact with updated panelling, while the hardware is gutted and replaced with modern, reliable, and efficient upgrades. Rather than work on a broad array of vehicles, the company focuses on one bona fide classic: the Porsche 911, specifically the air-cooled 964 series built between 1989 and 1994.

Led by Adam Hawley, who spent two decades working for major motorsport outfits like BMW, Lotus, and Jaguar, the company was founded with the goal of creating a 911 “that teamed the looks and driver involvement of an analogue classic with modern comfort, drivability, and performance.” The company is owned by Hawley and his wife, Lucinda Argy, and named after their son Theo. Hawley started the company after building his own 911 restomod, and the focus and time taken for each subsequent build is as particular as if he were making them all for himself.

Each build starts with the same process: a donor car is stripped back to the shell and 3D-scanned by the team before being welded and coated in a lightweight carbon bodywork designed by Hawley. From there, each build progresses in its own way, with customer input guiding the Theon team over 18 months to make sure it is exactly the vehicle they desire.

Theon’s craftsmanship and attention to detail can be seen in a commission completed earlier this year. Fitted with the four-litre engine pumping out 420 brake horsepower, the car weighs in at 1,150 kilograms and as a result has a better power-to-weight ratio than the Porsche 992 GT3 RS, a modern performance car from the German manufacturer. Alongside this performance, the aesthetics of the original vehicle were kept intact, with the classic body shape and Porsche’s classic Medium Ivory colour. Hawley describes the car as “a refined, timeless take on our air-cooled 911 recipe. The client wanted to create a 911 that spoke softly—classically elegant to look at and subtle to the untrained eye—but carried a big stick. This build has performance to keep a 992 GT3 honest on a twisty road. The Medium Ivory paint with Grand Prix White stripes and Copper Brown Metallic Porsche script harks back to the 1970s whilst also looking entirely contemporary.”

Further examples can be seen in the two Theon commissions for customers in the United States. One, delivered in April, was the first Theon vehicle to make it across the pond as well as the first to feature a switchable engine-mapping system, allowing the four-litre flat-six to cycle between Sport, Town, Sport+, and Race modes, depending on the terrain and the mood of the owner, and which Hawley says “can totally change the character of that flat-six motor.”

A second U.S. commission was designed with a simpler focus: power and lightness. It is tuned to deliver maximum speed in the vintage body, and Hawley says that “optimized for fast road use and the occasional track outing, it delivers intense driving thrills while retaining the signature Theon usability. It’s a rounded, cohesive, air-cooled 911 package that richly rewards whatever the driving scenario, from cross-country road trips to carving round a circuit.”

The customization of each vehicle and the influence of customer input on the build is clear in the differences between commissions. While the British one was fitted with smaller wheels and tuned to suit the narrow, winding roads of the United Kingdom, models destined for America prioritize speed, power, and engine variability, perfect for the diverse terrain and the wide, straight freeways in that country.

While each customer is different, and no two Theon restomods are exactly alike, there are throughlines that connect them all. The attention to detail—from the finish to the interiors and the technical parts that nobody will ever see—ensures that every car provides a modern, technically advanced machine with the soul of a vintage 911, the ideal classic car for Gen Z.

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