d56tuye

17
THEON DESIGN
SPECIALISTS IN COMPREHENSIVE 964 BACKDATES
“90 per cent of that
car people will never
see, but the same level
of attention to detail
goes right the way
through it,” says Adam
Hawley, founder
of Theon Design.
I’ve not seen much of it: photographer Ali Cusick’s
seconded Theon’s 911, parked it in a darkened garage
and is playing with long exposures. What I did see of
it when I arrived looked pretty special, though.
Backdates, reimagined, recreations – call them
what you like – there’s no shortage of companies that
can build you one. Hawley’s only too aware of that;
indeed, there are a good number within a half-hour
drive of Theon’s Deddington base in Oxfordshire, UK.
What makes Theon different, then? Hawley’s
background, for one – he dropped a successful career
in car design to set up Theon. The reasoning was
as simple as it is brave: a 911 fan from childhood, he
wanted to improve them, and on that which was on
offer from others, using his training and experience
as a car designer. Given the established competition
that’s not an inconsiderable undertaking, but the first
customer car here, which heads to Germany in a
couple of days, looks pretty sensational.
The precision and finish of the car is in sharp
contrast to the surroundings. Theon rents space in a
farm, the workshop crammed full of evidence of the
prototyping that Hawley and his team have worked
on over the past couple of years. His team all have
previous form in building 911s, Theon’s location
coming in helpful in that regard, this part of the UK
the automotive epicentre for the sort of craftsmen
and women Hawley needs to execute his vision.
Upstairs in Hawley’s office there’s no hiding his
design background – there are CAD models on the
computer screen demonstrating this 911 build uses
the most up-to-date methods and technology. There’s
evidence too of prototype parts, with some naked
front and rear bumpers, constructed from carbon
fibre and weighing just 1.3kg each, sat on top of some
boxes. Hawley’s background was centred around
rapid prototyping and CAD 3D design, and Theon
approaches each build in the same way he did when
he was involved in creating concept cars and interiors
for a variety of global car brands.
“We approach it from a design angle,” says Hawley.
By that you can read, ‘meticulous, to the point of
obsession’. Much like an engineer, then, a designer
will never be satisfied, but there’s absolutely nowhere
to hide when it’s visual, Hawley admitting that he’s
determined to make his builds perfect. That detaildriven
eye has seen Theon build its own bucks to
shape the wings, which are 3D scanned and checked
to make sure they’re exactly symmetrical. Hawley
admits there’s only so much you can do to make
shutlines as tight as possible (after all, these are
30-year-old cars), but everything that can be done
to tighten them up is done, such is the desire to add
modern design philosophies to the 911’s familiar,
iconic shape.
It is, as so many of Theon’s rivals are, built off
a 964. The body is stripped back to bare metal
before it’s modified with new front and rear wings,
these predominantly steel on the list of orders
Theon already has, though they can build them
out of carbon fibre if you want. As much as it’s an
idea driven by Hawley and his team, then, the final
product is the customer’s vision, and specification,
with Theon simply offering the means to create it. To
that body you can specify your desired suspension,
the car we’re driving today running adjustable Ohlins
dampers and 964 RS brakes; the car in the next