Around the same time I started working full time for Modified Magazine and moved out to southern California, VerticalScope started Modified Luxury & Exotics, and naturally I contributed to that book too, with so much of the luxury scene coming out of California. One of my favorite shoots from that era is this 2001 Porsche 996 Twin Turbo, owned by Alex Ross. We spotted the car on 6speedonline, back then as a 10-second street car, and we knew we had to cover it for MLE. I flew up to San Francisco, met up with Alex, and had one of my favorite shoots ever.
Like the Signal Auto MKIV Supra, I really wish I could go back in time and redo this one with the knowledge I have today. I shot this car in January 2005 and was still learning the ropes on how to shoot different types of cars in different types of conditions. Many of the first cars I shot for Modified could not even drive on the street, which really limited what I could do in terms of location and style. Fortunately, Alex built this 996 to be driven, and as a result, we drove everywhere.
What made it a 10-second street car starts with the 3.6L twin turbo flat-six, upgraded with Evolution Motorsports GT750/800 Garrett hybrid turbos, a Hi-Boost hose kit, fuel system, custom Y-pipe, and enlarged throttle body kit. FVD long tube headers wrapped in Thermo-Tec and an FVD intake plenum handle the exhaust and intake sides, with Bailey’s diverter valves, Porsche GT2 intercoolers, and a list of Akkurat custom work that includes a nitrous intercooler fogger system, exhaust track pipes, an HKS Type II Racing blow-off valve, and a methanol/water injection system. A GT2 fuel pump with an auxiliary pump, Bosch/Siemens 720cc injectors on a modified rail, and a BMC high flow air filter round it out, all overseen by GIAC DME programming with an IBE Chipswitch offering modes from 19 to 30 psi. The result was 750 whp with an estimated 760 lb-ft of torque, good for a 10.97 at 128.7 mph quarter mile, and that was on low boost.
The shoot itself could not have been more relaxed. Since I was not from the area, Alex had no problem driving me around, and he basically told me to hop in, we would just drive, and if I saw something that looked cool, we would pull over, snap some photos, and continue on our way. We did this over the course of two days, and it resulted in some really opportunistic photos. Unfortunately, I still had no clue what I was doing when it came to lighting, and some of these photos definitely could have turned out better. Sure, I could probably fix a lot of it in post, but I am also not going to spend hours in Photoshop these days.
The featured image for this shoot was one of my favorites for a very long time. It is a very flawed photo, and I really wish it came out picture perfect, because in my head I had something envisioned, and what I actually captured was unfortunately far from it. Still, I love how it looks with limited editing. This shoot also had a cool batch where we had a backdrop of crushed junkyard cars, which served as a real nice contrast to a 10-second Porsche. But my favorite part of the whole shoot was Alex being game for a cemetery. I had always wanted to shoot in one, and this jet black Porsche was a perfect fit. We actually got approached by security while we were there, but Alex managed to talk his way through it while I snapped as many photos as I could. Again, hardly the best conditions, and it definitely did not help that we were basically being kicked out.
Back then, Alex was part of Akkurat, but now you might have heard of his shop, Shark Werks. If you look closely at these photos, you will see Sharky plastered everywhere, which is Alex’s nickname. Later on that year, in August, I met back up with Alex, who invited several other luxury and exotic owners out. Along with his Porsche, which was now sporting Shark Werks decals, I got to ride along in a Lamborghini Murciélago, a Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale, and an E46 M3. Hundreds of shoots later, Alex is still one of the nicest and most accommodating people I have ever met for a shoot. Very few car owners would have done for me what he did, and it really did spoil me for years to come.
GalleryPhotos by Jason Siu
