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Porsche’s back catalogue ranks among the most successful, admired and valuable in the entire automotive world. Yet even among Stuttgart’s many great machines, very few can match the circuit dominance of the 935. Porsche paid tribute to that racing legend in 2018 to celebrate 70 years of the brand’s motorsport heritage, creating a limited run of track-only specials based on the contemporary GT2 RS. Now, as Monterey Car Week gets underway, the carmaker has unveiled another project influenced by the 935: the one-off Porsche Flachbau RS.

The Flachbau RS is an especially exclusive customer commission, developed in collaboration with the carmaker’s Sonderwunsch division, Porsche Motorsport, the engineers at Weissach, Style Porsche and Manthey. These teams spent a full three years designing and engineering a car worthy of the 935’s visual identity, and even put time into a development mule, lapping both the Nurburgring and Porsche’s own test track.

Former Porsche designer Grant Larson was chosen to shape the car, having previously been responsible for the beautifully executed 991-based 935 project, while the famous 935/78 known as ‘Moby Dick’ served as the styling reference. Unlike that machine, though, the owner of this particular example wanted something fully legal for road use. As a result, the project was based around a ‘like-new’ 991.2 GT2 RS already in the buyer’s collection.

Any proper 935 tribute has to begin with a flat nose, or ‘Flachbau’, arrangement. Although its origins lie in racing, the Flachbau setup was offered on 911 road cars between 1982 and 1989, with the revised front end replacing the 911’s traditional headlamp-and-wing profile in the interest of improved high-speed aerodynamics. Only 948 cars ever left the factory with this configuration, making them some of the rarest series-production 911s, though aftermarket conversions also carved out their own niche.

The wings on this particular new RS are completely bespoke, as its requirements differed from earlier 935 builds. The lighting elements are unique as well, made up of three slim LED strips stacked together; with the lights switched off, the car recreates the headlamp-free look of the classic racing cars. At the rear, the most prominent feature is the new wing arrangement, inspired by the unit fitted to the current 911 GT3 R Rennsport, but positioned two inches higher than on the track car. Together with the other aerodynamic revisions across the car, Porsche says the Flachbau RS will produce 1221 pounds of downforce over the rear axle at 211 mph in its high-downforce setup. Further aero changes include a front splitter, rear diffuser, a new underfloor developed through Manthey, and aero disc wheels. Taken as a whole, it is a striking-looking machine.

No one-off Porsche would feel complete without a matching paint finish. This example wears Grand Prix White, colour-matched from a period-correct car in the brand’s own collection. The black detailing combines painted black surfaces with exposed carbon, as a nod to the Moby Dick livery. Inside, the cabin leans heavily towards a race-car atmosphere, with plenty of exposed metal and virtually no comfort features to mention. The owner even asked Porsche to remove the stereo and Porsche Communication Management (PCM) systems in the interest of saving weight. Porsche says it managed to cut a further 70 pounds from the car, which is particularly impressive given this 991.2 already started from Weissach package underpinnings.

Enthusiasts were quick to take notice when Porsche filed European trademarks for “Flachbau” and “Flachbau RS” in 2025, prompting hopes in some quarters that a flat-nose option might return to series production. However, the carmaker has confirmed that those filings were tied specifically to this project rather than a broader future model line. While the owner of this car undoubtedly spent an enormous sum to have it built to their exact specification, it would be hard to complain if Porsche decided to produce a few more. After all, there are plenty of wonderful 935/78 liveries that could provide inspiration.