We’re fortunate, here at Classic Retrofit to have forged incredible friendships over our ten-year existence with leading talent in the automotive sphere. It’s why our products have found a home on all manner of cool projects right around the globe, helping to improve and extend the classic car lifestyle for owners and drivers.

One such company we’re particularly proud to partner with is Dubai-based Nine Eleven RSR, well established as the go-to destination for classic Porsches in the thriving UAE region.

Masterminded by Jonas and Samer, the company specialise in all manner of classic Porsche up to 1998, with around 60 examples onsite at any one-time including transaxle 924, 928 and 968 cars alongside the usual flavour of air-cooled classics. 

“We’re well-equipped to execute full restorations, rebuilds and bespoke hot-rods,” Jonas tells us enthusiastically. “There’s constantly big projects on the go… it’s never ending – we’re always busy!” he says.

Jonas’ career will be of particular interest to many, having worked at the forefront of the classic Porsche industry for the last 40 years. Jonas began at Jaz Porsche in London, before setting up JZ Machtec back in England, these days known as JZM. Jonas took the brand to the UAE around ten years ago, before founding the Dubai-based Nine eleven RSR brand. Such longevity in the industry, not to mention his key role in developing specialist infrastructure for Porsche fans in the UAE in recent years, means Jonas is well placed to offer key insight into the ever-growing passion among enthusiasts in the region.

“The market is growing fast: most enthusiasts now want a classic Porsche over new alternatives due to the kudos a classic offers, plus their more favourable residual value,” Jonas says. “With more Europeans coming to the area, they’re simply bring their Porsche passion with them also, creating a unique and vibrant culture for these sports cars. Icons of Porsche is a great example of this,” Jonas referring to the annual exhibition put on by Porsche’s own Stuttgart-based Heritage and Museum teams to showcase the best of the brand’s history, which this year will be celebrating its fifth edition. It’s a stark contrast to when Jonas arrived in the region himself.

“When I first came to the United Arab Emirates in 2015, within two to three years I realised it’s a very different ownership idea to the UK and mainland, being more biased towards newer cars,” he says. 

“Then when you scratch the surface, you realise there’s a lot of classic Porsches hidden away, because nobody was able to work on them with much expertise. The Porsche Classic Club was founded around the same time and has become a haven for knowledge and support on all things classic Porsche, while accelerating the growth of the community. As the Club grew, it became apparent that a workshop was needed to facilitate service and repair for these vehicles.” 

The result is Nine Eleven RSR, with 15 staff expertly trained in the maintenance and modifying of these special Stuttgart sports cars.

A common upgrade for classic Porsches rolling through the doors at Nine Eleven RSR is our own electric AC units, which are a must if owners wish to unlock the full potential of using their classic Porsche as often as possible.

“The cars here simply need air conditioning, regardless of age,” Jonas agrees. “I’ve known Jonny at Classic Retrofit for well over 10 years when he first started to sell CDI & fuse boxes, so we know the quality of the product is there".

While some European-spec examples of classic Porsche have found their way to the UAE in recent years, Jonas has witnessed an influx of Japanese-spec cars of late, most of which were not specced with AC from the factory.

Either way, enthusiasts have options: “If a Porsche came along with AC from the factory you can bring that back up to speed, but if it didn’t come with then that’s where the Classic Retrofit system comes in. This is especially beneficial for ’74 MY cars, where there wasn’t enough power off the engine to run a factory A/C system adequately. 

The Classic Retrofit vent which replaces the dash-mounted clock is highly favourable too on 1960s and 1970s 911s which are bereft of any air vents in the dashboard from factory.”

The Nine Eleven RSR team have fitted around 30 examples of our electric air conditioning units to customer cars, adding further appeal to what is already a wide use case for classic Porsche in a part of the world where appreciation for classic Porsches is growing at an exponential rate.

“It’s an exciting place to be,” Jonas enthuses, and we quite agree. If you’d like Jonas and the team to unleash their expertise on your Porsche by fitting any of our class-leading, modern electrical air conditioning or ignition systems, please get in touch by visiting https://www.nineelevenrsr.com/connect.