Porschephiles know that Singer—the Porsche restomod shop that basically invented the whole concept—takes its name from prolific Porsche engineer Norbert Singer. Britpop-o-philes know Singer head honcho Rob Dickinson was, in fact, a singer (doing lead vocals for Catherine Wheel, while also being cousins with Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson) which also contributed to the name. (And anyone who listened to WBCN or WFNX in the '90s knows he cut a track with Tanya Donelly. -Ed.) But none of that matters to the lawyers at Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, who are none-too-pleased with the Singer All-terrain Competition Study.

Otherwise known as the ACS for the sake of brevity, it’s a modern interpretation of the air-cooled rally 911s that bounded across North Africa on their way to Dakar. Of course it wasn’t just Singer involved in this, either. The actual mechanics of it all were designed and built by 911 rally specialist shop Tuthill Porsche.

Which brings us to the interesting bit: Singer and Tuthill are 5372 miles apart.

That’s right: the ACS is essentially the product of remote work. Because of COVID travel restrictions (not to mention sheer distance) the Singer and Tuthill teams had to work together virtually, much like the rest of us. And just like us, they were probably surprised at how much they managed to accomplish.

Of course remote work has its limitations. For all we’ve accomplished from our couches, the big stuff still needs to be done in person, with other people. And if anyone’s going to drive the ACS (whatever post-legal brouhaha form it takes) in the rallies it was designed for, they’re going to need a co-driver.

And for that, we volunteer as tribute.

Singer Pulls Safari ACS From Its Website and Social Media After Porsche’s Lawyers Get Involved [via The Drive]