Every now and again, I'm reminded that my two biggest restoration projects - the Mercedes Cosworth and the Isuzu Trooper RS - are far from the most extreme anyone has ever attempted.
They are massive by my standards, yes, but not all compared to what some enthusiasts have done. I stumbled across the Instagram account for a user named limoncellaprojekt, who apparently found an exceedingly rare Porsche 993-chassis 911 that was one of a handful of paint-to-sample cars when it was new. After a series of bad events and bad weather, the rare 911 was swept away into a river, where the owner barely escaped and the car then sat for five years.
Fast forward to the present day and the current owner - after negotiating the purchase of the mangled carcass after the river receded and the car became visible - has undertaken a massive restoration project to repair the heavily damaged body, rebuild the waterlogged engine, and restore the completely disgusting interior. It's an absolutely insane attempt at rebirth, but as his interview with Hagerty confirms, some projects aren't always about the bottom line:
"Paolo is under no illusions about the absurdity of his project. The process has involved multiple trips to Germany and at this juncture remains far from complete. As he explained in the Rennlist thread, this is not a project about financial gain, but rather something he enjoys just for the love of it."
Read more here: https://www.hagerty.com/media/maintenance-and-tech/this-river-find-porsche-911-restoration-is-the-definition-of-project-insanity/