#09: Buy & Scan

After finalizing the interior and exterior designs, we began search for the perfect donor car candidate — a manual 997.1 Turbo. This quest was challenging; manual versions were scarce and pricey. Out of approximately 24 manual 997.1s in the U.S., we sought one with low miles.

After searching and inspecting different options, we eventually struck gold in Virginia: a 2008 Porsche 997.1 with just 33,000 miles, priced at $107,000. Adding inspection and transport costs to San Francisco, the investment surpassed $110,000.

Once the car arrived we had our mechanics do further inspections which revealed additional issues. It appears that the previous owner had the car lowered and in that process the rear left wheel hub carrier and bearing were damaged and had to be replaced. Our plan is to make sure all vehicles pass our own quality control. Any issues discovered will be fixed.

Next was the meticulous scanning process, crucial for accurate digital representation. The car was hoisted, stripped of wheels and lights, and scanned thoroughly, including the undercarriage.

This precision process, captured in the videos below, was vital for our designer to align the SanctumEgo design precisely with the car's chassis.

The scanning was twofold. After the exterior and undercarriage, the focus shifted to internal components. Every panel was removed and scanned to ensure perfect fitment of internal attachment points, followed by the chassis. This meticulous "matching" of design to scan was a critical juncture—determining the feasibility of manufacturing the design. The collaboration between the design and fabrication team was intense, underscoring the fact that a great design isn't always manufacturable without compromises.

A striking example was the hood design. It featured a significant opening, but we discovered that the car's battery cover, located directly beneath, posed a design challenge. The opening was slightly too low, necessitating a redesign to elevate it. This adjustment, born from manufacturing constraints, surprisingly enhanced the car's elegance in that area.

To complete the full external car scan took all in about 2 months, and as we approached the end, a new challenge presented itself on how to scan the rear quarter panel. The rear quarter panel is one piece with the roof, and to be taken off it requires a cut separating it from the roof. The challenge is that during that process the part can get damaged and the scan of the quarter panel and attachment points may get compromised.

The solution was to buy a new quarter panel and to scan it. There seems to be a scarcity of that specific part but luckily we were able to find one side and realized that we can just "flip" the scan to get the other side. Nearly $5,000 later for the new part the job got done.

The precision of the scan and all the attachment points is crucial in achieving a perfect fit of all the new carbon fiber parts with the original chassis of the car and with each other.

While refining the engineering CAD files, another task loomed: deciding on the front and rear lights. Stay tuned for updates on this transformative journey, where artistry meets engineering in the world of custom automotive design.