In an era when the performance car world increasingly measures progress in kilowatt-hours and software updates, a small Californian workshop is preparing to climb a Sussex hillside in a machine that answers with a clutch pedal and an air-cooled engine. Gunther Werks will bring its F-26 — a 1067-horsepower reimagining of the Porsche 935 Slantnose, built on a 993 platform and driven through a six-speed manual — to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where ex-Formula 1 driver Scott Speed will attempt to prove that analogue engineering, pursued with sufficient discipline, remains a legitimate language
Gunther Werks F-26: 1067bhp Air-Cooled 911 Slantnose Tackles Goodwood
Just a clutch pedal, and the kind of mechanical directness that has become almost quaint
Mark
Why build this car now, when electrification is the obvious direction?
Mimi
Because someone still believes in the thing itself—the mechanical connection, the air-cooled engine, the manual gearbox. It's not a rejection of progress so much as a refusal to abandon what works.
Mark
But 1067 horsepower from an air-cooled engine seems almost reckless. How do they manage the heat?
Mimi
That's the engineering part. Twin turbos, careful tuning, and a racing firm's expertise. It's not reckless if you know what you're doing. The weight discipline—1225 kilograms—that's where the real work shows.
Mark
Only 26 cars at 1.2 million each. That's not a business model, that's a statement.
Mimi
Exactly. This isn't about volume or market share. It's about proving a point: that there's still a place for this kind of car, and that people will pay for it.
Mark
Scott Speed driving at Goodwood—is that a symbolic choice, or does he have a real shot at winning the class?
Mimi
Both. He's got the credentials, and the car has the performance. But there's something symbolic about an ex-F1 driver piloting something so deliberately old-school. It says: this still matters.
Mark
What happens if it doesn't perform well at Goodwood?
Mimi
Then the question becomes harder to answer. Right now, the engineering looks sound, the concept is coherent. But the track will tell the truth.
El Pulso
- A 1067-horsepower, air-cooled, manually-shifted 911 is about to run against electric and hybrid hypercars at one of motorsport's most watched hillclimbs — and it is not there to make up the numbers.
- The production car class benchmark stands at 47.14 seconds, set by a Koenigsegg last year, and Gunther Werks has entered with a car lighter than a Lotus Emira and a driver who has raced in Formula 1 and NASCAR.
- With only 26 examples to be built at £1.2 million each, the F-26 carries the weight of a philosophical argument: that the refusal to electrify is not ignorance but a considered engineering position.
- The car's twin-turbocharged flat-six was developed specifically for this application in collaboration with a racing firm, and its 1225kg dry weight was achieved through deliberate discipline — not legacy compromise.
- Goodwood will function as a public verdict: if the F-26 troubles the class leaders, it validates an analogue path forward; if it falls short, the industry will note which side of history it landed on.
In an era when the performance car world increasingly measures progress in kilowatt-hours and software updates, a small Californian workshop is preparing to climb a Sussex hillside in a machine that answers with a clutch pedal and an air-cooled engine. Gunther Werks will bring its F-26 — a 1067-horsepower reimagining of the Porsche 935 Slantnose, built on a 993 platform and driven through a six-speed manual — to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where ex-Formula 1 driver Scott Speed will attempt to prove that analogue engineering, pursued with sufficient discipline, remains a legitimate language of performance. The question the F-26 poses is not merely mechanical: it asks whether conviction and craft can still hold their ground when the dominant culture has moved on.
Gunther Werks, a California-based tuning house, is arriving at the Goodwood Festival of Speed next week with a car that wears the silhouette of 1970s motorsport and the power output of a modern hypercar. The F-26 is a ground-up reimagining of the Porsche 935 Slantnose, built on the 993-generation 911 platform and clothed in carbon fibre bodywork that bridges five decades of Porsche history. Only 26 will be made, each at approximately £1.2 million — a limited run that frames the project as principled rather than populist.
The engine is the philosophical centre of the car. A twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre air-cooled flat-six, developed with a racing partner specifically for this application, produces 1067 horsepower and 750 pound-feet of torque. It drives the rear wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox with a limited-slip differential — no paddles, no hybrid assistance, no electric torque-fill. The weight required to make this credible is 1225 kilograms dry, lighter than a Lotus Emira, yielding a power-to-weight ratio that places it firmly in supercar territory through engineering discipline rather than nostalgia.
At Goodwood, ex-Formula 1 and NASCAR driver Scott Speed will pilot the F-26 up the 1.16-mile Sussex hillclimb in the production road car category. The class benchmark is the 47.14-second run set by the Koenigsegg Sadair's Spear last year. The outright record — 39.08 seconds by the electric McMurtry Spéirling — is not the target. Class honours are.
What gives this moment its weight is the conversation it enters. In an industry increasingly shaped by battery packs and regenerative systems, Gunther Werks has built something that insists the analogue approach, pursued with rigour, still has something to say. Whether the F-26 can trouble the Goodwood leaders will offer a concrete, timed answer to a question the industry has largely treated as settled.
A California-based tuning house called Gunther Werks is bringing something deliberately anachronistic to the Goodwood Festival of Speed next week: a car that looks like it stepped out of 1970s motorsport but produces enough power to embarrass most modern supercars. The F-26 is a reimagined Porsche 935 Slantnose, that wedge-shaped icon of racing history, rebuilt from the ground up as a 1067-horsepower statement against the electrification of performance.
The car itself is built on the bones of a 993-generation 911, the platform that has become something of a darling among enthusiasts in recent years. But Gunther Werks has wrapped it in carbon fiber bodywork styled after the original Slantnose, creating a visual bridge between eras. The company plans to build exactly 26 examples, each priced at around 1.2 million pounds. It is a limited run that signals intent: this is not a mass-market rebellion against electric motors, but a carefully engineered one.
The engine is where the philosophy becomes concrete. A twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre flat six, air-cooled in the traditional Porsche manner, produces 1067 horsepower and 750 pound-feet of torque. The engineering was done in collaboration with a racing firm specifically for this application. Power reaches the rear wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox with a limited-slip differential. No paddle shifters. No hybrid assistance. No torque-fill electric motors smoothing the delivery. Just a clutch pedal, a driver's right foot, and the kind of mechanical directness that has become almost quaint in 2026.
The weight discipline required to make this work is the real story. At 1225 kilograms dry—lighter than a Lotus Emira—the F-26 achieves a power-to-weight ratio that puts it in genuine supercar territory. That is not nostalgia; that is engineering. The carbon bodywork, the careful specification of every component, the refusal to add unnecessary systems: these choices add up to something that could actually perform, not just look the part.
At Goodwood next week, ex-Formula 1 and NASCAR driver Scott Speed will pilot the F-26 up the 1.16-mile Sussex hillclimb. Gunther Werks is entering the production road car category, where the benchmark to beat is the 47.14-second time set by the Koenigsegg Sadair's Spear at last year's event. The outright record—39.08 seconds by the McMurtry Spéirling electric fan car in 2023—is not realistic prey. Class victory is the target, and it is still formidable.
What makes this moment worth examining is the larger conversation it represents. In an industry increasingly defined by battery packs and regenerative braking, Gunther Werks has chosen to build a 1067-horsepower machine around an air-cooled engine and a manual gearbox. It could be read as bold principle or expensive nostalgia, possibly both. But the engineering rigor suggests something more deliberate than sentiment. The Mezger engine was developed specifically for this car. The weight was achieved through discipline, not accident. The manual gearbox was chosen not because it is cheaper, but because it is what the car deserves.
For those who have watched the 993 platform become one of the most celebrated 911 generations in the collector market, the F-26 represents a genuine curiosity: a car that takes a beloved platform and asks what it could become if given contemporary power and contemporary engineering. Whether it can trouble the Goodwood class leaders will tell us something useful about how far an analogue approach can still reach in an age of electric hypercars.
Citas Notables
The F-26 represents a genuine curiosity for those who have watched the 993 platform become one of the most celebrated 911 generations— Gunther Werks project philosophy
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