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Atlanta, Oct. 8, 2025 — Porsche Cars North America has narrowed this year's Porsche Classic Restoration Challenge field to nine finalist teams, setting the stage for a two-day national championship at Trilith Studios in Fayetteville, Georgia, beginning Oct. 9. The sixth annual competition drew 60 entries from U.S. Porsche Centers, with contenders spread across three categories: Preservation, Restoration, and Individualization.
The Challenge is more than a dealer showcase. It sits inside Porsche Classic's broader infrastructure — an operation that stocks more than 65,000 genuine parts for vehicles dating back to the 1950s — and it carries real weight in a country where more classic Porsches remain in service than anywhere else in the world. With roughly 85 percent of all Porsches ever built still on the road, the kind of expertise this event rewards is not a niche skill. It is what keeps a rolling heritage alive.
Three Categories, Three Standards
Each dealer entry competes in one of three classes with distinct expectations. Preservation asks the team to keep a car original while making sure it still works, drives, and feels the way it did when it mattered most. Restoration requires a return to as-new condition, with factory specifications as the yardstick for every decision. Individualization takes the opposite path: it encourages one-off builds guided by Porsche's Sonderwunsch, or "Special Wishes," program, where the goal is to reflect an owner's singular vision rather than repeat a factory formula.
The national finalists were selected after area competitions held over the summer and early fall. Now the nine survivors head to Georgia with the overall title — and bragging rights in their respective categories — within reach.
"Making it to the finals is a real testament to the passion, skill, and teamwork behind each of these projects," said Jonathan Sieber, Senior Manager of Porsche Classic. "The quality of work this year has been exceptional."
Area East
Individualization: Porsche Englewood | 1980 911 Targa
The Englewood crew calls its entry "The Gentleman's Outlaw" — and the name fits. Starting from a bone-stock 911 SC, the team performed a concours-level, nut-and-bolt rebuild before reshaping the car into something far more personal. The body was refined and finished in Oak Green Metallic; the 3.0-liter engine was rebuilt; a limited-slip differential was fitted; suspension and brakes were upgraded. The result is a Targa that pairs classic air-cooled character with sharper, more engaging reflexes — exactly the kind of build the Individualization class exists to celebrate.
Preservation: Porsche Mechanicsburg | 2003 911 Carrera 4S
Dark Teal Metallic. Daily driver for nearly two decades. Family milestones, Pennsylvania winters, long commutes — this 996-generation Carrera 4S lived all of it. Porsche Mechanicsburg's job was to preserve rather than transform, so its work centered on mechanical refreshment, factory-scheduled maintenance, interior and cosmetic renewal, dry-ice cleaning, paint correction, refinished wheels, restored carbon-fiber trim, and a Porsche Classic Communication Management upgrade. The car's history is part of what makes it special, and the team made sure it can keep adding chapters.
Restoration: Porsche Beachwood | 1969 912 Targa Soft Window
This rare soft-window Targa has a human story that sets it apart. Originally delivered in Ohio and later owned by Bruce Schwartz, a longtime Porsche enthusiast, the 912 spent years in storage before Porsche Beachwood took it on. The restoration covered a full engine rebuild, cosmetic renewal, and careful paint correction and detailing. Along the way, the project helped raise tens of thousands of dollars for Alzheimer's research in Schwartz's memory — giving a rare 912 a second life and a cause to carry with it.
Area South | Central
Individualization: Porsche Orlando | 1997 911 Carrera 2 (993)
What began as a well-loved Pastel Yellow 993 is now a bespoke 993 RS-style creation. Porsche Orlando stripped the car to its bare shell and rebuilt it around the vision of co-owner Carey, handcrafting the interior and constructing a 4.0-liter engine from components deliberately sourced across multiple Porsche platforms. The finished machine is a reminder that Individualization does not mean abandoning Porsche's engineering ethos — it means applying that ethos to one person's very specific dream.
Preservation: Porsche Cary | 2001 Boxster
Porsche Cary's Guards Red 2001 Boxster was given a future rather than a museum corner. The team performed a complete mechanical refresh, restored the interior, renewed the convertible top, and rebuilt the brake system, with support from colleagues in sales, parts, and service. The goal was straightforward: put a beloved roadster back in a position to keep making memories.
Restoration: Harper Porsche | 1978 930 Turbo
Few cars at Trilith will have traveled a harder road than this one. The 930 Turbo arrived at Harper Porsche after years under the Florida sun, wearing rare Paint to Sample Buick Medium Green Poly metallic over white leather and pinstripe velour. Corrosion was extensive, so the process began with rust repair and a bare-metal repaint, followed by complete engine, transmission, and turbocharger rebuilds. Every step was held to original factory specifications — an early Sonderwunsch commission pulled back from the brink.
Area West
Individualization: Porsche Tucson | 1973 Porsche 914
For six years, master technician Jim Guthrie helped lead Porsche Tucson's Restoration Challenge efforts, earning regional recognition along the way. For 2026, the team turned the spotlight back on him: a 1973 914 built from a gutted rolling chassis into Guthrie's ideal version of the car, with extensive fabrication, restoration, and performance upgrades throughout. It is a fitting salute to a technician whose influence on the dealership and its local Porsche community spans nearly five decades.
Preservation: Gaudin Porsche Las Vegas | 1996 911 Turbo (993)
Decades of aftermarket modifications had blurred what this 993 Turbo originally was. Rather than replace its components, the Gaudin team chose to work backward — carefully reversing tuner-era changes, restoring factory equipment, and preserving original finishes. A Porsche Classic Technical Certificate confirmed the car's authenticity, and prolonged road testing verified that it drives the way Porsche intended.
Restoration: Porsche San Francisco | 2003 911 Carrera 4S
Bought as a retirement project and then parked for years with a suspected engine issue, this 996 Carrera 4S found a different path to resurrection. Two first-year technicians, working under the guidance of veteran Porsche mentors, completed the mechanical and cosmetic restoration. That generational handoff speaks directly to what the Challenge is ultimately about: making sure specialized knowledge does not retire with the people who built these cars.
Championship Weekend and Beyond
The nine finalists will be judged Oct. 9–10 at Trilith Studios. While the teams work, the public can view the vehicles at Luftgekühlt at Town at Trilith and cast ballots for the People's Choice Award. Fans unable to attend can follow the build-up through #porschechallenge26 on social media, where behind-the-scenes content will spotlight the cars, their technicians, and the stories that got them to Georgia.
Winners in Preservation, Restoration, and Individualization, along with the Grand National Champion, will be announced during the Porsche Classic Restoration Challenge Awards Banquet.
With more classic Porsches on U.S. roads than in any other market worldwide, the competition carries meaning far beyond the trophy table. It is a working demonstration that the knowledge required to sustain these vehicles is still being exchanged, refined, and passed to a new generation of specialists. For the nine teams in Georgia, that is the real takeaway — and the real prize.
