In-Depth How A Dashboard Clock Sparked Two Louis Vuitton x Singer 911 Restomods

Beyond the seriously impressive craftsmanship and endearing Louis Vuitton ‘Art of Travel’ style that Singer have applied to the cars, what’s really caught our eye is the custom LV dashboard clocks and gauge clusters styled to match the Louis Vuitton Tambour line, plus a very special one-off Louis Vuitton Tambour in white ceramic and yellow-gold - the first white ceramic Tambour ever, and possibly a hint at future watches to come. But first, let's talk about the cars.

For those who haven’t come across Singer before, they’re a Californian carmaker founded in 2009 that specialises in restomodding Porsche 911s - taking classic 911s and restoring them up to modern standards with extensive personalisation to the owner's whim. In 2017, Singer also launched its own watch brand, Singer Reimagined, which applies a similar restomodding philosophy to horology.

The genesis of this project began when a customer requested that Louis Vuitton’s watchmaking department, La Fabrique du Temps, design a one-off dashboard clock for a Singer 911 restomod. Very quickly, that extended to Louis Vuitton designing the gauge cluster, before spawning into a complete LV and Singer collaboration to reimagine the entire car. With the Singer Classic 911 completed to such success, they decided on a second, this time based on the Singer 911 Turbo Coupe.

Under the hood of the Singer 911 x Louis Vuitton Classic sits a naturally aspirated flat-six that’s been bored out to 4 litres, running through a six-speed manual transmission that sends power to the back wheels. Stopping power has also been upgraded with carbon-ceramic brakes, though in Singer fashion it remains free of any driver assists like traction control or ABS to maintain a raw, connected driving experience.

The attention to detail in the customisation is utterly obsessive - inside the cabin, every single touchpoint, surface and interface has been completely reimagined by Louis Vuitton. The dashboard clock that sparked this entire project sits on the far right of the gauge cluster and features a two-tone navy blue dial, styled as part of the Louis Vuitton Tambour range. It’s the product of Louis Vuitton's in-house watchmaking powerhouse La Fabrique du Temps, who have fitted the clock with a manually wound and highly finished movement, the clock displaying the hours, minutes and small seconds with an 8-day power reserve. It’s removable too, with a built-in desk stand and is finished with a smooth bezel engraved with the Louis Vuitton letters.

Next to that dashboard clock, the Tambour design language has extended to the entire gauge cluster, including rev counter, speedometer and ancillary dials. It’s surprising just how good these gauges look; the Tambour style suits their automotive application extremely well.

Outside of the dials, the car's interior has received the full LV treatment, the French brand having upholstered the seats in its fantastic natural hard-wearing hide that’s regularly used on the handles for its highest quality luggage and custom creations. There are little details all over them, like Monogram flowers in the headrests which are also moulded into the eyelets of the seat ventilation holes. You’ll also find the flower monogram subtly placed on the windscreen tint, rotary knobs of the AC controls, and all those parts usually made of plastic have been replaced with rhodium-plated metal.

The exterior is finished in a saffron-coloured paint with cobalt blue accents to the bumpers, interior details and tyres (sadly, these are just demonstration tyres), all designed to match a one-off capsule wardrobe and accessories collection made to accompany the car. They include a matching luggage set, carbon fibre and leather helmet, two pairs of driving gloves, a full wardrobe to wear whilst driving the Singer (because one couldn’t possibly go without an LV outfit to match one's Singer 911!), as well as a surfboard and a set of skis to mount to the Singer's roof racks.

If you could call the Singer 911 x Louis Vuitton Classic ‘traditional’, then the Turbo Cabriolet is where the brands decided to let their hair down. This one’s based on the 1980s 911 Turbo Cabriolet, built on the late '80s 964-generation Porsche 911. It’s got a twin-turbo 3.8-litre flat-six mated to a six-speed manual and is also rear wheel drive with matching carbon-ceramic brakes, but this one has traction control, ABS and an electronic stability program.

The Cabriolet's body has been finished in a rich creamy colour with gold accents, but all eyes will be on the American walnut timber detailing integrated into the bumpers, side-skirts, rear deck, wing, under the bonnet, surrounding the fitted luggage and all through the interior. It’s got real Chris-Craft and Riva timber boat vibes with a cream canvas roof, that rear deck opening to reveal hidden luggage storage where back seats would usually be on a stock 911 Turbo Cabriolet. Tyler, the Creator would froth this.

The attention to detail in the interior is on par with the Singer Classic, down to the timber steering wheel and leather gear stick boot that’s stitched closed around it like a Noé bag. If you want an insight into how far the attention to detail extends in the Turbo Cab, just look at the gear linkage - a piece of sculpture itself that’s not even on show, hidden by the massive leather boot.

We’ve got the Louis Vuitton Tambour 8-day manual-wind mechanical dashboard clock in the Turbo Cabriolet once again, this time mounted just above the gearstick, centred at the bottom of the dashboard. It’s removable as well, this time featuring a white dial with a gold-toned case, handset and numerals. The white and gold Tambour style extends over the instrument cluster too, following suit across all the gauges and contrasting really nicely with cherry-red warning lights in one of the ancillary dials.

Like the Classic, the Turbo Cabriolet comes with a litany of accessories including fitted luggage, handbags, a tailored racing jumpsuit, racing helmet, goggles and gloves, but it’s the very special Louis Vuitton Tambour wristwatch included in the capsule collection that’s got our attention. It’s the standard 40mm Louis Vuitton Tambour you’ll find in the Maison's standard catalogue, powered by a micro-rotor automatic chronometer-certified in-house movement with a 50-hour power reserve, but that’s where the similarities end. It’s cased in white ceramic with yellow gold centre links matching the white dial with gold numerals and hands as well as the Singer's gauges.

Whilst Singer is first and foremost a restomodder, the impressive attention to detail seen here for a bespoke car is closer to the work of a traditional coachbuilder creating a one-off car for a special client than it is to a standard restomod. It’s the furthest Singer has ever pushed a 911's customisation, and a first for both Singer to work with a fashion brand, and first for LV to work on a co-branded car. The results really are spectacular.

It’s a project that crosses every aspect of Louis Vuitton, from its bespoke luggage creations, accessories, footwear and (most relevant to us here at HODINKEE ANZ) its horological might with La Fabrique du Temps, with the unique white ceramic Tambour being easily the most exciting accessory from this pair of cars. Louis Vuitton has a long history with ceramics, embracing it early on with the green-ceramic Monterey in the 1990s, long before it became a mainstream material in watches.

Last year saw LV release the first ceramic Tambour, cased in an on-brand brown ceramic, so it’s exciting to see the brand experimenting with other ceramic tones for this Singer collaboration. Is this a sneak peek at future ceramic Tambours to come? For now, we can only hope, but the future of ceramic Tambours looks bright (and colourful).

The Surfboard on the Singer Classic in particular deserves extra praise: it was handmade in France before it travelled abroad to be resin-coated, and it's made of a mix of blond oak and walnut with inset LV monogram marquetry. God knows how long this must have taken to create, let alone the craftsmanship required for a functional surfboard. Alongside the matching set of skis, whoever had the idea to add these accessories that deliver heaps of whimsy truly understands Louis Vuitton’s ‘Art of Travel’ philosophy.

Find out more about this Singer 911 x Louis Vuitton collab here.