Porsche “Sonderwunsch” Restoration: What It Really Is, What Porsche Can Rebuild, and How “Factory Fresh” It Gets

The Porsche ecosystem: Classic vs Sonderwunsch (and why it matters)

Porsche Classic Factory Restoration

This is the deep craft restoration side—bringing classic cars back to correct, verified condition with Porsche’s factory processes, original documentation, and approved materials. Porsche Classic emphasizes work at a standard they describe as “110 percent,” including factory-approved materials and processes that typical shops can’t replicate.

A standout example: Porsche notes it is the only brand that puts a classic body back into a production line process for cathodic dip coating (a corrosion-protection step), which requires the shell to be totally clean and built to a very high standard.

Sonderwunsch (Special Request)

Sonderwunsch is the framework for extreme personalization, and it can apply to new cars, existing cars, and classics—with Porsche Classic brought in when the vehicle and work scope call for it. Porsche describes the three pillars like this:

• Factory Commission: bespoke colors/materials integrated into the build of a new car at the factory.
• Factory Re-Commission: you bring an existing Porsche back to be rebuilt “the way you would have wanted it from new,” giving it a second life and leaving “once again… as new.”
• Factory One-Off: the most extreme—new parts developed, potentially technical changes as well as aesthetic, to create a true one-of-one.

What Porsche Classic actually does to restore an original Porsche

A proper Porsche Classic Factory Restoration is closer to “re-manufacturing” than detailing.

1) The discovery phase: your car’s identity, proven by Porsche archives

Porsche Classic starts with your VIN, because that unlocks historical archive information about the car’s build and life. Even before the car arrives, Porsche reviews condition using direct customer contact and comprehensive images.

2) Deep inspection, scope definition, and contract

After initial assessment, Porsche Classic provides an early cost projection, then brings the car in for a deeper evaluation before finalizing the contract, timeframe, and specification.

3) Total disassembly: thousands of parts, organized like an aircraft rebuild

Once the restoration begins, the vehicle is completely disassembled—body, drivetrain, interior, electrical—everything. Porsche describes parallel work streams: body shell to body specialists, engine to engine specialists, gearbox to gearbox technicians.

4) Body shell restoration and factory-level corrosion protection

This is the part Porsche Classic highlights as uniquely “factory.” The body shell must be restored to an extremely high standard to undergo factory corrosion protection processes like the cathodic dip coating step Porsche calls out.

5) Correct parts—or re-created parts when they no longer exist

Porsche notes that sometimes parts simply aren’t available, especially for the oldest cars (like the 356). In those cases, Porsche Classic says its experts can hand-make parts to manufacturer standards.

6) Mechanical restoration: engine, gearbox, suspension, brakes

While the body is being perfected, drivetrain and mechanical systems are rebuilt to spec and tested. Porsche Classic emphasizes that this is done by specialists with deep model knowledge, including technicians familiar with older and newer “Classic” vehicles.

7) Finish and authenticity: paint, trim, fitment, and quality checks

Whether the goal is concours-level originality or a “new-but-correct” finish, Porsche Classic uses body-frame gauges and other tools to ensure consistent fit and alignment.

8) Preservation vs full restoration (patina is a choice)

Not every project is “make it look brand new.” Porsche Classic acknowledges some owners want to keep patina—but it notes that today fewer customers request it than a decade ago.

Which models are eligible?

Classic Factory Restoration eligibility

Porsche Classic’s own language strongly implies breadth: it notes that all classic Porsche cars can be considered for restoration or service—citing examples ranging from 356 to 944 Turbo to classic 911 variants.

In the U.S., Porsche Classic also operates Factory Restoration support with a global mindset (and mentions support from Atlanta for worldwide demand).

Sonderwunsch eligibility

Sonderwunsch is positioned across vehicle generations—new, current, and classic—because it includes Factory Commission (new builds) and Factory Re-Commissioning (existing cars) and Factory One-Off projects.

In other words:

• Want a new 911 built with rare paint and a special interior? Factory Commission.
• Want your older Porsche brought back “as new,” but with a custom interior concept you always wished Porsche offered? Factory Re-Commissioning.
• Want something that requires engineering and newly developed components? Factory One-Off.

Do they add personal touches to the final restoration?

Yes—if you choose a Sonderwunsch pathway, personalization can be a major part of the finished car.

Porsche describes Factory Re-Commissioning as both technical restoration and a redesign of exterior/interior colors “to a new-vehicle standard.” And Porsche Classic itself says it participates in Sonderwunsch projects with teams that include Porsche Classic, Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur, and Style Porsche—bringing customer design ideas into the build process.

Personal touches can include:

• One-off paint concepts and graphics (Factory Commission / Re-Commission projects)
• Custom leathers, stitching, materials, and trim execution to match a customer’s story or theme
• In Factory One-Off cases, even new technical developments created specifically for the project

Are there restrictions?

Yes—and they’re the reason the program remains “Porsche” and not a free-for-all.

1) Feasibility and engineering approval

Sonderwunsch projects go through feasibility testing and are developed with Porsche engineers and designers. Porsche frames it as collaborative, but also clear that the result must meet Porsche’s standards.

2) Safety, legal, and certification standards

Porsche explicitly notes the finished one-off must meet the highest safety and legal standards, and the process involves technical certification where needed.

3) Originality vs value: Porsche may advise against certain changes

Porsche Classic is candid that changing things like original colors can affect originality and value, and sometimes they must counsel customers accordingly.

4) Capacity and time

Porsche Classic describes limited capacity and long timelines—often around three years for a full restoration, with bodywork alone averaging about 1,000 hours.

Is the final product “reset” as a factory original?

It depends on which path you choose—and what “factory original” means to you.

If your goal is authenticity

Porsche Classic restorations can be executed specifically to return a car to its original specification, using factory records and approved processes. Porsche describes restoring cars to “110 percent” and, in some cases, bringing cars back to their original condition using original parts “as much as possible.”

That’s as close as it gets to “factory original” after decades of life.

If your goal is “factory fresh,” but personalized

Factory Re-Commissioning is described by Porsche as rebuilding a customer’s existing car so it can leave the factory “as new”—but it may also include custom colors/materials that weren’t on the original build sheet. So it can be factory-level in execution, but not necessarily “original spec” in configuration—because the whole point is fulfilling the owner’s special wishes.

If your goal is a one-of-one statement

Factory One-Off is the farthest from “original,” because it can involve newly developed parts and technical changes. That car is still executed and documented as a Porsche-led project, but it’s deliberately outside standard production definition.

The simplest way to think about it

• Porsche Classic Factory Restoration is about bringing a Porsche back—authenticity, correctness, factory processes, long timelines, and an obsession with the right way to do it.
• Sonderwunsch is about bringing a Porsche back… and then making it yours, under Porsche’s engineering and legal constraints, with outcomes that can range from subtle personalization to full one-off engineering. Learn more about here: Porsche