Porsche, the iconic German automotive brand, has teamed up with Pixar, the animation studio that brought us the Cars franchise, to build a one-off 911 inspired by the character from one of the best car movies of all time. Sally Carrera was played by Bonnie Hunt, who also starred in the Beethoven films as well as on the OG Jumanji, opposite the late Robin Williams.
Dubbed the “911 Sally Special,” this one-of-a-kind 911 marks the first time Pixar has collaborated on such a project.
“Vehicles need a face and a story. And Pixar’s film Cars did just that, by bringing them to life on the big screen. The story conveys values such as friendship, love, and mutual support — and in the middle of it all is a Porsche: Sally Carrera. Together with Pixar, we have brought the spirit of Sally to life in a new way, not on the screen, but off the screen. With this one-off street legal 911, the Sally Special, which we are auctioning for charity, we want to help people who urgently need support, quite in keeping with the spirit of the film character,” said Porsche Communications, Sustainability, and Politics VP Dr. Sebastian Rudolph.
The project that aimed to build the 911 Sally Special began in November last year. The initiative reunited members of the original Cars team who created both the movie car and the life-size Sally Carrera based on a 2002 Porsche 911 Carrera two decades ago.
“My own daughters grew up watching Sally, and so it’s a special moment to be working so closely with Pixar on a project that has meaning and will directly help a new generation of children to both realize their potential and, in the case of the UNHCR, find safety and start new lives,” said Porsche Cars North America, Inc. President and CEO Kjell Gruner.
That team included Jay Ward, Creative Director of Franchise at Pixar Animation Studios, and Bob Pauley, who, as Production Designer for Cars, sketched Sally for the first time 20 years ago. They were joined by key members of Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur’s Sonderwunsch team in Stuttgart, designers from Style Porsche in Weissach, and Porsche Cars North America.
“The 911 Sally Special has been so much fun to create and is truly a first for us and for Porsche. We decided early on that we wanted to make a drivable 911, inspired by, but not a direct copy of Sally Carrera. After all, she loved to drive — and this helped guide us. If Sally Carrera was built today in life-size, for the road, what would she look like?” commented Ward.
“The Sally Special is based on the fastest, most engaging, and agile 911 Carrera there is — the 473hp 911 Carrera GTS — equipped with a manual gearbox to appeal to those who love driving, just like Sally Carrera. The changes to transform it into the Sally Special proved to be extensive,” explained Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur Vehicles Director Boris Apenbrink.
He added, “this was one of the most intense, emotional, and detailed Sonderwunsch projects our team has ever worked on. For example, the car is finished in a new and unique color — ‘Sally Blue Metallic’ — developed specifically for the 911 Sally Special. Taking our inspiration from Sally Carrera, we finished as much of the car as possible in the new color, meaning dozens of tiny changes, many of which were carried out by hand, such were their intricacy. Of course, we didn’t forget about Sally’s pinstripe tattoo, which was an interesting challenge.”
The “Turbo” inspired wheels fitted to Sally Carrera have been redesigned by Style Porsche designers in Weissach and created specifically for the 911 Sally Special. The five-spoke design has been subtly modified to match the 20/21-inch diameter of current-generation 911 wheels, but remains true to the Type 996 Porsche.
“We had a completely blank canvas to work from, which was great! In the movie, Sally was a former lawyer from California who appreciated style and elegance. But she was also down to earth and had a sense of fun. We continued the Sally Blue Metallic theme inside the car, with the obvious highlights and much more subtle elements too — many little touches that will hopefully make the winning bidder smile,” said Porsche designer Daniela Milošević, who led the team working with Pixar to develop not only the unique paint color but also almost every surface inside the car.
“Everything had to be usable and practical — we really want this car to be driven. We created special cloth trim for this car and wove subtle blue highlights into it. Then we matched this with Chalk leather and Speed Blue and Chalk stitching. The best part has definitely been working on the details — including many little nods to the movie Cars, and to Sally Carrera, herself,” continued Milošević.
Porsche released a short clip showcasing the 911 Sally Special on its official YouTube channel. You can check it out here.
The 911 Sally Special is scheduled to be auctioned by Sotheby’s at the ongoing 2022 Monterey Car Week. Sotheby’s Monterey Sale is scheduled for Saturday, August 20.
In addition to the one-off Sally Special, many items amassed during the creation of the car will be presented in the car and included in the sale such as the unique timepiece created by Porsche Design and Pixar. The winning bidder will also receive a second set of wheels in the “Carrera Exclusive Design” — mounted on a custom-made rack — intended for track use, should the owner wish to fully exploit the performance of the car.
Furthermore, the lucky bidder gets to take home a bespoke indoor car cover made by Porsche Tequipment, the original color molds used to finalize the paint for the car, the show plates for the car, a very special book charting the design and development of the car with images of its construction, and a selection of original sketches by Porsche designer Suichi Yamashita and Pixar’s Cars Production Designer Bob Pauley.
Photos from Porsche
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