A one-of-a-kind supercar bearing the soul of 1960s endurance racing made its world debut this weekend at Miller Motorcars' 50th anniversary celebration, 'Legends' in Greenwich, Connecticut. The JC9 is the ninth career commission of American designer Jason Castriota, and by any measure, it is among the most audacious coachbuilding Porsche projects of the modern era, which explores models beyond the 911.
At its core sits a Porsche Carrera GT, the mid-engine exotic that we recently spotlighted for its surging collector demand. Revered for its high-revving 5.7-liter naturally aspirated V10 and notoriously demanding six-speed manual gearbox, the powertrain has been left intact. What Castriota and the Miller Motorcars team rebuilt, over the course of several years, was everything surrounding it.
The overall form takes a dramatic departure from the Carrera GT. The body is made from carbon fiber and shaped by a design language drawn from the great sports prototypes of the endurance era: low, wide, and purposeful, with forms that echo the racing silhouettes of Porsche, Ferrari, and Ford from one of the most glorious and competitive periods in motorsports history. Other highlights include a custom wing and a glass canopy-style cut-out door.
The iconic Gulf Racing livery, powder blue over an orange spine and one of motorsport's most enduring color combinations, reminds us of the past, the multipod LED headlights upfront are leaning more along the lines of a modern take on the 917 LT. Inside, the cabin carries the same purposeful theme: blue Alcantara bucket seats with tartan inserts, a stripped cockpit-focused environment that makes no concessions to comfort theater.
Castriota built his reputation on some of the most celebrated designs of the past two decades, including the Maserati GranTurismo and the SSC Tuatara. His most iconic work remains the Ferrari P4/5, the Pininfarina one-off commissioned by James Glickenhaus that appeared earlier this year at Miami Concours and cemented its place among the great coachbuilt Ferraris of the modern era. The JC9 joins that lineage as a privately commissioned work built for a US collector.
The car was presented alongside several of Castriota's landmark designs as part of the Legends event, which marks half a century of Miller Motorcars operating as one of America's foremost European sports car dealers.
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Images: Miller Motorcars, @emc2ny
