Are you bored of resto-modded Porsches? Good, because neither are we and since we're talking old Porsches that are made to beat whatever Stuttgart's got on its production lines right now, let's take a look at the Guntherwerks 400R, namely the production version of a car we first heard about back in 2018.

It's been improved in many areas since then and now Guntherwerks is ready to begin making this half-a-million-dollar 993 on steroids. You can still probably get one but you gotta act quick - they'll only be making 25 400Rs.

Hard to tell how much is 991, how much is 993, and how much is classic Carrera RS 2.7

All the way back in 2018 (yeah, it really feels a long time ago given that the first six months of 2020 legitimately felt like a decade), the world shook under the massive tires of what is, objectively, a small car - the Guntherwerks 400R. The car we saw being tested back then by some of the world's top car magaizines was a mule but this is what you can actually buy, provided you can come up with at least $500,000.

To avoid any and all confusion, Guntherwerks is not Sharkwerks, those guys focus on turning 911s into properly bonkers track weapons while Guntherwerks is essentially in the business of making properly bonkers road and track weapons. Dual purpose things, if you will. And you can credit Guntherwerks with all your trust because the guys behind the company have been around the block for years and they're the same guys behind the well-known Vorsteiner tuning brand that used to turn up with some of the maddest custom Bimmers out there.

The engine is still in the back, behind the rear axle, but it's now a 4.0-liter mill making 430 horsepower and 357 pound-feet of torque. Built by Rothsport Racing, the flat-six is air-cooled and power reaches the wheels via a six-speed manual with modified ratios.

The crankshaft of the engine comes from a modern water-cooled GT3 but in this application it sits between new heads, Mahle pistons, and new rods. All the power reaches the tarmac through huge tires (295s up front and 315s in back) hugging equally big rims sporting a throwback design. To bring the 400R to a stop, Guntherwerks equips it with steel brakes but, if your heart desires and your pocket can stretch that much, McLaren Senna carbon-ceramic brakes can be sourced and fitted to the car.

Guntherwerks says the 400R is about 200 pounds lighter than the original 993 which would make it about 2,500 pounds but the mule weighed in at about 2,800 pounds. In any case, it's monstrously fast since that same mule went from naught to 60 mph in just 3.7 seconds, as fast as a bone-stock 991-generation Carrera T with a manual. With electric power steering, the Guntherwerks 400R feels modern not only in the way it goes down the drag strip but also in the way it steers.

It's not, however, a Singer wannabe. Singer goes the way of water cooling as they strive to achieve that 'perfect' Porsche package of old-school, 911 2.7 RS-esque looks merged with modern, GT3-level performance.

Guntherwerks, however, tries to re-write history, as Matt Farah puts it, and that's why it sticks with the purists' favorite, the air-cooled flat-six. Whether or not it's worth as much as a 991.2 GT3 and another two cars to use as daily drivers is entirely up to you but one thing's certain - any car that can do low 1:33s around Laguna Seca should be taken seriously!