Chris Harris Goes Wild In The 350

Aug 03, 2023

Chris Harris has felt every wild moment behind the wheel of the 350 hp, 1800 lbs Tuthill Porsche 911K that revs up to 11,000 RPM.

Chris Harris is one of the most respected automotive journalists in the world, and one of the hosts of BBC Top Gear. He is also one of the faces of Collecting Cars, one of the leading auction houses in the UK. For their latest video on their YouTube channel, Harris has got behind the wheel of the Tuthill Porsche 911K, a remarkable lightweight sports car that extensively uses carbon fiber to keep weight to a minimum.

It's from the famed Tuthill Porsche, started by Richard Tuthill, who has produced some of the most spectacular 911 builds ever seen. As Harris shows us in the video, the 911K takes the German sports car to totally new heights.

RELATED: Tuthill Porsche Takes On East African Safari Rally

What started out with a basic 911 became a project to create the lightest Porsche 911 possible, and one that could rev up to 11,000 rpm. Tuthill says to think of it as a four-wheeled motorbike, and carbon is, of course, used throughout its construction to keep that weight down. Carbon fiber body panels, a carbon rear bulkhead and titanium cage are all part of the process of this Porsche from Tuthill. All of this helps to bring that weight down, although the chassis of the car itself is a base 1972 Porsche 911 chassis to keep it as authentic as possible in that area.

Harris goes through the body panels of the Porsche with Tuthill and points at things, and he lists the materials. Even things such as the hood, wheels, brake disc and bumpers are all made of carbon which astounds Harris. Sitting in front of Harris, the Porsche 911K weighs just 846 kg, or roughly 1,800 lbs. It is certainly one of the lightest sports cars ever made. The weight saving even goes to extremes, such as the seat, which was especially made for the car as was the steering wheel too.

Under the hood, is an engine that can rev up to 11,000 rpm and produces 350 hp. It is a 3.1-liter flat-six engine, and Harris drove it up the road before speaking to Tuthill, and he actually found it slightly scary to drive! The team chose 3.1-liters as they were quite worried they would not have enough torque, but it turns out they have more torque than needed and less power than expected. But 350 hp is more than enough for this air-cooled engine, which is a great nod to the classic Porsche 911s of the 1970s that this sports car replicates.

RELATED: Here’s How Long You Have to Wait To Buy A Singer 911 If You Order One Today

For a car that delivers 11,000 rpm maximum, it has a very pleasing cruising number. Harris took it up to around 7,000 rpm which he felt was enough, but it certainly shocked him when it got to 11,000 rpm. However, you can take this thing car and cruise around comfortably in sixth gear, at 2,000 rpm which makes it quite civilized. The transmission is an ultra-lightweight six-speed manual, based on a 1972 magnesium case that has a small reverse gear squeezed in, as Tuthill originally took it out of the transmission.

When in neutral, reverse is now selected by pulling up a lever with R written on it, before you put it back in neutral and put it down to get it back into first gear. One amusing feature to note is that the speedometer of the car isn’t installed yet, meaning we aren’t sure what the top speed is! Tuthill and Harris describe the 911K as a road car that you can enjoy on normal roads, but also have fun with on the track. Its homes are the English A and B roads, twisty roads that can take you into the hills to show off the Porsche’s handling to its full ability.

Speaking of what it is like on the road, Harris takes the 911K out on some of those twisty and tight roads, and he claims it is “nothing like anything I have driven” as he gets behind the wheel. We get an idea of the ferocity of the car when Harris puts his foot down, and we hear that RPM climb and climb as the engine gets louder. There have been plenty of modified and restomod Porsche 911s over the years, but this is beginning to feel like the ultimate example.

RELATED: Here’s Why Singer’s First Reimagined Porsche 911 Cabriolet Is So Cool

Harris says the car is a real assault on every sense of every muscle in our body, and that driving the Porsche 911K is like a workout. Harris calls it an extraterrestrial psychopath of a car, and that it drives nothing like any other 911 he has ever been behind the wheel of. The presenter goes on to add that this car needs a lot of concentration and work, with it almost like managing a superbike rather than a German sports car. The party piece, however, is the engine behind Harris.

Harris is practically speechless talking about the engine, but references the lightweight nature of the 911K. It's put into context when you work out that some modern Porsche 911s weigh twice as much as this car, and they still handle exceptionally well. But 350 hp coupled with a car that weighs less than 1,900 lbs and with carbon fiber pretty much everywhere, it's not a complex puzzle to work out just how ferocious this car is. The footage from Collecting Cars of the car driving past shows how sharp and agile it is in the corners.

RELATED: Why RUF Continues To Be The Benchmark For Modified Porsches

Naturally, the question of how this Tuthill Porsche compares to a Singer creation is then brought up. Signer create some other of the finest Porsche 911 restomods but they offer is quite contrasting. As Harris says, they are totally different, and this Tuthill 911K is simply a car that wants to punch the driver in the face! Tuthill clearly just wanted to create something that no one has done before, and they have come up with one of the purest Porsche 911 driving experiences we have ever seen. We can’t imagine what Mr Porsche himself would think about what this car has become.

Harris decides to find out exactly what this car can do and takes it to a track to unleash all of its power and potential. Throwing it into the corners looks like a whole heap of fun, and the sounds the 911 produces on the downshifts are unreal. Harris gets the back-end to step right out as he drifts through each corner, reveling in the potential of this Tuthill creation. There really is no car quite like this 911 on the roads and as Harris says, Tuthill and his team have created an absolute monster of a Porsche 911.

Source: Collecting Cars YouTube Channel

By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.

Covering anything from JDM cars to classic jets. Contributed to HotCars since the Autumn of 2018.