James Kon
Sally Carrera, from Disney and Pixar’s animated film Cars, has been brought to life thanks to the work done by Porsche and Pixar Animation Studios.
The recently unveiled 911 Sally Special is one-of-a-kind and will be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s tomorrow as part of Monterey Car Week in California, United States (US).
A portion of the auction proceeds will benefit young women through a donation to Girls Inc.
The second portion will go to USA for UNHCR, an organisation that supports refugees from Ukraine.
Vice President Communications, Sustainability and Politics at Porsche AG Dr Sebastian Rudolph said, “Vehicles need a face and a story. And Cars has done just that: brought cars 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.”
The project began in November 2021, and brought together members of the original Cars team.
This included Creative Director of Franchise at Pixar Animation Studios Jay Ward and the Production Designer who first drew Sally Carrera Bob Pauley.
They were assisted by members of the Sonderwunsch team at Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur in Stuttgart and designers from Style Porsche in Weissach.
The team worked together for 10 months to produce the unique factory one-off.
Ward recalled, “We had great fun creating 911 Sally Special and it’s the first time we’ve worked on a project of this kind.
“We decided early on that we wanted to create a completely drivable 911 – inspired by Sally Carrera, but just not an exact copy.
“Sally Carrera loves to drive – that was our inspiration. We asked ourselves: if Sally were built today as a road-approved model, what would she look like?
“911 Sally Special is based on the fastest and most agile variant of the 911 Carrera model line, the 480-PS 911 Carrera GTS.
“The car is equipped with a manual gearbox, tapping into Sally Carrera’s passion for driving,” explained Director Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur Vehicles Boris Apenbrink.
“The customisation elements are detailed and extensive. 911 Sally Special was one of the most intense, emotional and detailed projects our team has worked on.
“One example is that the car is painted in ‘Sallybluemetallic’, a custom paint that was hand-applied specifically for this project.
“We also thought of Sally’s tattoo, of course. Implementing that was a very special challenge,” he said.
Sally Carrera’s Turbo-look rims were reinterpreted by Style Porsche designers in Weissach and manufactured especially for the 911 Sally Special. The ‘five-arm design’ rim was adapted to the 20-/21-inch wheel dimensions of the current 911 generation and creates a visual link to the 911 Type 996 on which Sally Carrera is based.
Porsche interior designer Daniela Milošević led the team that worked with Pixar to design the new blue colour as well as the vehicle’s interior. “We were given complete freedom, which was great! In the film, Sally Carrera was a lawyer from California who valued style and elegance.
“At the same time, she was down-to-earth and fun-loving,” said Milošević.
“The special Sallybluemetallic is used in the interior as well, where it creates both obvious highlights and subtle details that will hopefully bring a smile to the future owner’s face. At the same time, it was important to us not to forget everyday usability and practicality,” he said.
“911 Sally Special is meant to be driven often and gladly. We developed a special Pepita houndstooth fabric upholstery in three colours, combined with chalk-coloured leather and stitching in Speed Blue.
“Working out these details makes the project special and brings back a lot of memories of the movie and Sally Carrera,” he said.
In addition to the car itself, the auction also includes other highlights – most notably a unique chronograph by Porsche Design, also created in collaboration with Pixar. Like the car itself, the coloured ring is painted in Sallybluemetallic.
“The chalk-coloured leather strap with Speed Blue stitching underscores the sporty design of the unique timepiece.
The strap can be quickly and easily swapped out for a second strap in Speed Blue with chalk-coloured stitching, without the need for any tools. Like the vehicle, the chronograph has a limited edition marking on the back of the case.
The auction will also feature a special indoor car cover from Porsche Tequipment, a wheel rack with an additional wheel set consisting of Carrera Exclusive Design wheels, a book on the development and production of the one-off model and original drawings by designers.
