The recipe for this Olds has to be one of the most complicated in rendering history. Famed artist Abimelec Design was commissioned to give the 1969 Oldsmobile Cutlass an Outlaw Porsche-inspired muscle car look. And even though the bodywork looks stock, for the most part, there’s somehow a connection to Ken Block’s wild Hoonipigasus.
That’s right; the spaceframe Porsche with carbon fiber bodywork and a 1400 horsepower Pikes Peak setup somehow connect to an Oldsmobile. Obviously, Hoonigan’s This vs. That racing series likes to match unusual cars, so there must have been both Porsches and classic muscle like the Cutlass in there somewhere.
However, the most obvious hit to Ken Block is that little logo of a chunky red Pegasus on the front fender of the Olds.
I’m used to Abimelec renderings which are more over the top. However, I get where this is coming from and why it’s kinda classy.
Outlaw Porsche mods on the 1969 Cutlass
The body of the 1969 Oldsmobile Cutlass was left mostly stock, but has a road racing look thanks to the Minilite wheels which instantly say “vintage racing” in the context of Trans Am racing, or air-cooled Porsches.
Also, the brushed steel look on the previously chromed bumpers is really cool to look at, especially from up close. And the cabin sports a half-cage. Topping it all off, the Oldsmobile is painted Porsche’s Etna Blue (aetnablau), a historic racing color that’s still being ordered by 911 enthusiasts today.
“I really liked the idea, as it was not too far-fetched, considering that style itself comes from vintage race cars from a period where Oldsmobile use to race avidly as well, both in track, like NASCAR, and road races, like La Carrera Panamericana,” the artist explains.
What are Porsche Outlaws?
When I hear the term, “Outlaw” I think of Magnus Walker spending weeks drilling holes in aluminum panels to make them lighter. Magnus is the Urban Outlaw who builds Porsches and sometimes races them.
Outlaws are like hot rod road-racing Porsches. It started with Rod Emory, who customized 356 models in his Los Angeles-area shop, even coming up with the Outlaws badges. While normal 356s could make as little as 60 horsepower, Outlaw models might have Porsche 912 four-cylinder engines bored to 1800cc producing closer to 150 hp. Hot rod stuff!
The same Outlaw style trickled to the 911 crowd. Builders like Marlon Goldberg and Rob Dickinson, who founded Singer, might do lightweight, extremely custom air-cooled cars if your pockets are deep enough.
I’d like to imagine that where a 911 might bring the lightness to a road race, the Oldsmobile would offer the power and noise. With a 4-barrel carb, the Hurst/Olds 455 V8 produces 380 horsepower and 500 lb-ft of torque would have sent you down the quarter-mile in 13.8 seconds back in 1969. Maybe a slow-in, fast-out approach to road racking would have been enough to fight off a Porsche.
