Porsche Creates Custom 911 Carrera RS 3.8 for Transformers
This wicked cool Porsche 911 Carrera RS 3.8 is the star of the latest Transformers movie.
Big Screen Star
The Transformers line of toys - and now, mega-hit movies - has long been one that centers around cool cars that "transform" into giant robots with varying types of temperaments, as most are well aware. That latest installment in that franchise - "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" - is no exception, but it also has something extra special for Porsche fans to enjoy - a Porsche 911 Carrera RS 3.8 dubbed "Mirage," which was revealed during a Super Bowl commercial months ago, though it also recently made an appearance at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, where Autoblog was in attendance.
Multiple Forms
Thus far, not a whole heck of a lot is known about this cool custom 911, other than its name, the fact that it's a good guy - or Autobot - and that its voice comes from none other than Pete Davidson. In the previously released trailer for the movie, we can see that the 911 is driven by lead character Anthony Ramos, and it's apparently capable of transforming into all sorts of things as a way to evade any pursuing Decepticons.
Rare Ride
Since a mere 55 examples of the 1993 911 Carrera RS 3.8 were built in total, Porsche obviously created replicas for the movie, rather than risk destroying one of these prized, million-dollar rides. "We wouldn’t want to wreck a historic car like that," said Owen Shively, CEO of RTTM, who oversaw the replica's creation.
Easy Process
"I've never even seen one, but I had to go out and make five of them in a very short order," Shively added. "It has the same general shell. What allows us to do that is the 911 tub from 1965 to 1998. You can use that base and build it into a RS 3.8. I was fortunate that in the '90s I worked at a Porsche shop in Reno called Sport Haus managing the parts department. With my background in motorsports and with Porsche, we were able to go to owners and find spare parts. People just opened their garages to us."
Group Effort
"We brought in technicians from Porsche so that if something went wrong, they could work on them on the spot and maintain them overnight so that production would keep rolling," added Scott Baker, director of marketing communications for Porsche Cars North America. "And this isn’t a single day, but over weeks that they’re adjusting to something that may happen in a shot sequence and if a car needs to be fixed."
Holding Up Well
In the film, each of these replicas played a specific role - one was used as a "jump" car, and another was slated to drive in reverse, but each one was abused in a pretty big way, as one might imagine of any movie car. Amazingly, each one took that abuse in stride, with only minimal maintenance required in between shoots.
Marquee Vehicle
"And it wasn’t just a matter of weeks, but across three countries where the film was shot - and we beat the hell out of them," said film producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura. "With a big Hollywood movie like this, losing a day of production can cost anywhere from $250,000 to $500,000. If a car doesn’t work, it’s a big problem. There was a lot of pressure on Porsche to keep the cars running because it’s the marquee vehicle when you see the movie."
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