Tedson Motors Daydream - The Ultimate 911 Restomod?

During the second week of June, Goran Turkić from Tedson Motors unveiled the company’s first official car, the Daydream, to the public. Prior to the event we discussed all things "restomod" with him.  

Written by Wilhelm Lutjeharms 

Photography Supplied 

“Monaco is the Mecca of world luxury. Every year they have premieres of supercars at Monaco and this year our car will have its premiere there when Prince Albert II unveils the car.”

That is a clever move by Goran to get maximum publicity for the latest 911 restomod to join the market to the correct audience. The concept of this car has been brewing for a number of years, though. 

“The idea of this car goes way back. I can remember as a five- or six-year old boy drawing cars and being totally amazed by sports cars, super cars and Formula 1 cars. At age 12 I remember drawing cars from BMW, Porsche and Ferrari. This is interesting, because I would take a current car and then I would challenge myself to draw the next one, the one that will replace the current model. I was always looking at how to improve the current cars and coming up with the next generation.” 

“I’ve lived here in Croatia mostly, but also in the United States for a decade or so. I experienced a different world there and I graduated with a degree in Physics. So, I understand the technical side of cars a little. For me it was and is always a love of art and cars. I always view something in its entirety; it is never just about one aspect.” 

“The story of the 911 has been written, and it has been written very well. Rob Dickinson at Singer and his team have done a phenomenal job in reinventing the 911 and making it into this very unique RS-type version. I realised making another one of those would not do the motoring world any favours.” 

“So I kept looking at all the available restomod 911s and kept analysing the market. There was something in me that felt like taking a 964 and developing it into a car that was unveiled in 2022. I would say it is almost diametrically the opposite of what some of the other restomods try to achieve. I thought, let’s try to take the car to the future, but to do this I realised would be a significant challenge. You can’t take the car to the future without respecting the current Porsche 911 philosophy, because they are still building cars today.” 

“To create something fresh and new, you have to add your own flavour. That was actually the biggest challenge for me: to balance this car, to make it look like something that would come out of Stuttgart’s factory today but at the same time give it my own personal touch and feel. I think we did a very good job.”

If you think Goran has had experience in the automotive industry, you would be wrong. “I’ve never worked in a car company. I’ve worked in a completely different space. As a physicist I worked in the technology and energy sectors. For the last 15 years I’ve specialised in high-voltage energy where I was involved in building power plants.”

“I had a 1974 911 Targa while I was living in the USA. I appreciate the car and the original body style. Around seven years ago I bought a 1973 911 T. I kept thinking about things I want to do to it. Then I decided to leave it as it is, as I believe the long hoods are as pretty as they come. Also, when we start talking about improvements, the platform is just not there – it’s too primitive. 

“Then I got a 1975 911, a G-model. I decided to try a few things with this car. I think to an extent they are not as appreciated as some of the other models. Maybe because they were manufactured for a decade-and-a-half, and there are so many on the market with some being in a really sad state. However, this does lead to reasonable entry-level prices.” 

“I decided to do a little study on it and to do my take on the car. On my Instagram account you will find my Carrera GRS. It is a really fun car, and it was one of those introductory projects during which I learned much about the body and the lines. I built it as a street racer with a naked interior. It was not just a stripped-out car for the track, but one you could drive in town. Having completed this project and owning and living with these cars, plus having done thousands of hours of research on the earlier 911s as well as the 964s and 993s, I wanted to do something really special.”

“I decided that I want to focus firstly on the design. I wanted something revolutionary to take this car to the future. This process probably took me a year, where I would draw different inspirations and take one direction and then retrace. Eventually I had a conclusive idea about the car and how it must look. Then I scanned an original 964 and combined with my own drawings built a 3D model of my design in our CAD program. At this stage I was really very happy with the car. After rendering the car I thought, let’s just very quietly, humbly and shyly, start sharing it with the world. 

“As I started to reveal it (Tedson_Motors on Instagram), it exploded. Interest came mainly from social media, phone calls and emails. I realised the love and passion is definitely there. I’d created something I like, but which my peers and the larger Porsche community out there like as well. There was clearly a market out there that would like to experience this car in the metal.” 

“The next step was to develop the technology for the car. For Daydream, there are two things that need to work together – for me as a person to be happy with my work it cannot be only a beautiful shell – we’ve got the design, but now we needed to develop the technological pack.” 

“We need to consider that we are living in 2022 and not the 80s and 90s. Our target market is high-net worth individuals and often they live in metropolitan areas with zero emissions laws. So I decided to develop a high-performance air-cooled model as well as an electric model. I did a little study on my followers and around 25% would be interested in an electric model.” 

“At the Top Marques show in Monaco we’ll present the air-cooled Daydream model, but in terms of technology we want to make it clear that we are the first restomod company that will offer the 911 with different technology options for drivetrains.” 

“The Daydream will be offered with a 4.0-litre, flat-six air-cooled engine infused with hybrid technology via an electric flywheel. The latter will be fitted in place of the original factory flywheel. We are doing this in conjunction with Vonnen (part of Elephant Racing in the USA) who offers a slim electric motor that fits between the engine and the transaxle.” 

“The engine alone develops 290 kW and 427 Nm. Combined with the electric motor, the result is 400 kW and 630 Nm. The beauty of this system is that you can tune it the way you want to use it. You have a 1 kW/h battery that charges and discharges very quickly. You basically have an air-cooled engine on steroids, because the torque is instantaneous. However, the electric motor is part of the flywheel, so you can’t drive on the electric motor alone.”

Tipping the scales at 1 300 kg, the dash to 100 km/h is said to take under 3 seconds. 

“At the same time we’ll be offering 3.6- and 3.8-litre options. Even though the 4.0-litre is the ultimate in performance, if you want to drive the car on a daily basis you might want to consider the smaller engine options.” 

“I want Daydream to appeal to people who are in the market for a contemporary car. Today if you want to be a car company, you need to offer variety and choices. Buyers have different preferences, different driving styles and needs. For me to cater for the market I need to offer my customer a proper platform with some sensible variations on the concept.” 

“The engine will be a completely rebuilt unit and the electric flywheel fitted is also 100% reversible. We are not doing any cutting or welding of the chassis. We use the original five-speed 964 gearbox or we can offer a six-speed gearbox from the 993.” 

The rebuilt engine will feature new internals, including pistons, cylinder liners, connecting rods and software to name but a few. The chassis is galvanised and some strengthening is done in strategic places.

“The car’s body is all carbon-fibre. On the show car we’ve kept the steel doors and roof – but the option is there to have that made in carbon-fibre as well. The two-tone finish you see in some of the pictures combine naked, clear-coated carbon-fibre panels with other panels that have been painted. I’m extremely proud of the fact that we have developed the entire carbon-fibre body in-house.” 

“At the moment we are negotiating with a couple of engine builders, both in Europe and the USA. While we specify the parts to be used in-house, the only way to get these types of projects done properly is to get the specialists involved in the assembly tasks as well. We have collaborated with JRZ Suspension Engineering. Theirs is a pro-active system with gyro sensors. I’m pretty sure our car will be impressive on track, but if you add it all up, we didn’t build this car for the track. Even so, fitted with 13-inch wide rims at the rear and 11-inch in front, and offering a fully square track, the car provides great stability.” 

“We wanted to update the interior of the car, but not to the extent of re-inventing the wheel. Many of the parts have thus been milled from aluminium, creating a jewel-like ambiance.”

“This project has been part business and part pure love and passion. This 911 is really the Daydream project’s first-born child. But it is not only about 911s. I’ve just felt this surge of inspiration to develop a Porsche, but I also see us doing our take on other brands in the future.”

It continues to be an exciting time for modern interpretations of the classic 911. We are definitely looking forward to getting to know the Daydream more personally.