Meet Manfred Hering, Owner Of "Early 911s," A Rival To Porsche Specialists Singer

Jan. 11, 2015 12:13 PM ET by Jacob Joseph / 34 Comments

A Porsche specialist who is actually in Germany.

In the world of Porsche, there are 911 fans and then there are 911 fans, with the latter group being those given over to believing that air-cooled engines, natural aspiration and three-pedal manuals are the most important things on Earth. For those who believe the Carrera 2.7 RS was the last truly great 911, Manfreg Hering's company Early 911s is holy ground. The only bigger collection of 911s in the world belong to Porsche itself.

Hering was interviewed, and his shop in Wuppertal, Germany photographed by Classic Driver. The company can offer you a few different options, from a simple brightening up of cars that are already in fairly good condition to building a car to your period-correct specifications out of one of the unrestored shells in the shop. There are 165 different 911s waiting to be restored in the shop, not counting police, racing and other special models. It's an impressive setup, and given the recent spike in the value of classic 911s, it must also be incredibly lucrative.