Could the 500bhp+, sub-tonne Theon ‘R’ be the king of all Porsche restomods?

Oxfordshire-based air-cooled 964 enthusiast Theon Design is celebrating its 10th birthday. With the first customer 500bhp-plus, sub-tonne Theon 'R' getting ready to roll out of the factory gates.

Before you roll your eyes at news of yet another bank-breaking 911 restomod, hear us out. In our first drive of the standard Theon Coupe, we found it to have genuine character in an already oversaturated market.

Theon describes the new 'R' as its "ultra-high-performance" model, offering the purest and most exhilarating expression of analogue, air-cooled Porsche goodness.

Power comes from the 4.0-litre air-cooled flat-six that we already know and love, but now producing more than 500bhp and over 295lb ft of torque. In other words, that's enough for 0-60mph in just 3.0 seconds and 0-100mph in 6.5 seconds, accompanied by a soundtrack that Theon says is akin to a 1970s RSR race car.

In the name of what Theon calls "obsessive lightweighting", the 'R' also features a carbon-fibre body developed in conjunction with an F1 composites supplier, along with "motorsport-derived chassis technology" that should ensure everything is suitably stiff and sharp.

The result? A kerb weight of less than 1,000kg. That gives the 'R' a power-to-weight ratio of more than 500bhp per tonne, higher than any production 911 and pushing alarmingly far into supercar territory. Crikey.

And just look at it. It's drop-dead gorgeous. Those flared arches, those bronze wheels, that stance.

Now the less pretty bit. Prices start from £790,000, before tax and a donor car, which, compared with a multi-million pound Singer, could almost be considered a bargain. Ahem. Now, where did we leave that lottery ticket?