Restoring classics used to be a favorite career choice until ICE toxins nearly took me under. The change to all-electric was easy given generations of EV family history. Credits to Justin Lunny, a good story and video!
And credits to Edmund Lake at Auto Archives and The Verge interview!
"When we last spoke with Everrati CEO Justin Lunny, his UK-based restomod company that converts iconic cars to electric vehicles was expanding into the US market. Since then, the company set up headquarters in Calabasas, California, and in April, it partnered with Irvine-based manufacturer Aria Group to work on state-side electric conversions of Porsches and other prestige vehicles. Now Aria Group is helping build the first Everrati Porsche in California, and the owner of that car is a major investor: former Nest CEO Matt Rogers.
Rogers’ car is a Porsche 911 (type 964) wide body, similar to his father’s that he has fond memories of riding in as a kid. Since then, he promised himself that he’d get one, too, but only if it were electric. The once Apple engineer left Nest in 2018 and has since been focused on technologies to help fight climate change. Rogers heard about Everrati through a UK-based publication and contacted the company to inquire about its business and future — and, of course, about getting his Porsche converted."
That’s where Aria Group comes in: the low-volume manufacturer has worked on bespoke vehicles from Singer Vehicle Design, which makes custom Porsche 911s, and Radford Motors, which outfits luxury vehicles, and now it’s working on the first US-built Porsche 911 (964) wide body Everrati Signature Edition with the performance pack. It uses Everrati’s 700-volt EV powertrain that can go 0-62 mph in under four seconds and can travel up to 200 miles on one charge. Lunny says that demand for their electrified icons is surging globally, and California, with its abundance of sustainability-conscious young professionals, has more interested customers than anywhere. In just the past month, Everrati picked up four more orders of the Porsche 964, Lunny tells us.
This transcript is from an interview and has been lightly edited for clarity.
So, “Restomods.” I guess it’s a term because most shops are still modifying cars; therefore, it’s a modification.
Matt: That’s right.
And they’re restoring, so it’s a restoration. Do you think that’s not giving it enough justice?
Matt: Restoration implies, like, you’re going backwards in time and bringing out the best of what it was. And this [Everrati] is like, you’re bringing out the best of what it was and bringing it forward in the future. And I think that like the original Tesla Roadster, they didn’t really call it a restomod. But in today’s lingo, it totally would be.
Justin, I was interested in hearing what’s changed since we talked last? You’re expanding into the US market, you picked up a partner from gettacar…
Justin: Yeah, that’s right. Amit [Chandarana] joined. He’s very much looking at how we develop some of our commercial operations in North America. You’ll also have seen that we are partnering very closely with Aria. Aria [is] building Matt’s car as we speak, literally.
Matt: I got some fun photos the other day, actually.
Justin: It’s kind of exciting. Because, you know, I understand why things like restomod are used by definition because that is the word. But I suppose, as Matt rightly says, you know, hopefully, the vehicles are going to be better than new, clearly, because they are.
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