Video: the 'Half 11' is a 650bhp, LS V8-powered custom Porsche

In a parallel universe where modern vehicle design takes direction from the motorsports tech of the 1960s and 1970s, we get the Half 11. Named for "mostly obvious reasons." It’s part Porsche, part open-wheel racing car; the bespoke dream of twin brothers with good taste who share an aesthetic sense shaped by the rawness of vintage motorsports.

In episode 2 of Top Gear: American Tuned, series three, we explore the visionary world of Oil Stain Lab, a SoCal design shop. It’s the domain of Nikita and Iliya Bridan, formally educated auto stylists with a passion for the track car vibes of yesteryear. With years of experience in automakers’ styling studios, the brothers Bridan came to social media prominence when their beloved 1974 Alfa Romeo 105 GTV - aka the “Dropped Alfa” - fell from a flatbed truck and was damaged heavily, before they reimagined it as a safari-style desert ripper.  

Their more recent blue-sky thinking produced the Half 11 - a beguiling build that fuses the front end of a 1966 Porsche 912 coupe with the raw, tubular geometry of a vintage open-wheel racing car. Step back and it’s clear the Porsche 917 Spyder “Turbopanzer” from the Can-Am series, a half-century ago, is high in the mix both in styling and in spirit.

Considering what sort of mid-mounted, internal-combustion madness would power the Half 11, the Bridans went with a reliable, 650 horsepower LS V8. Their dreams of a suitably exotic powertrain were tempered by the appeal of reliability; shaking down a complex spaceframe and suspension would be much more palatable with an engine that, you know, runs when asked. A six-speed transaxle from a 996 Porsche 911 GT2, flipped upside-down, adds a bit of Stuttgart’s technical sensibility to the powertrain.

No doubt the Half 11 is a testament to the unconstrained creativity and engineering vision of its creators. It’s also a north star for a new project. The brothers are embarking on a plan to redefine the track-day car for a generation obsessed with the romance of racing history and comfortable with the digital tools of the present. A promising future, indeed.