I first became acquainted with Douglas Weber (@weberworkshops) through classic Porsches. From a manufacturing perspective, he feels they’ve been made to a degree of perfection that has influenced his own engineering for years. I visited Douglas at his home and base of operations in Itoshima. He had recently purchased and imported his 930 Targa from a dealer in the US. Having completed the registration in Tokyo, he and his son took the opportunity to road trip it all the way home to Fukuoka, a journey of over a thousand kilometres. “The first car I ever bought in my life was a beat up Baja Bug. Since then, Porsches were always my dream car. I feel that Beetles and Porsches almost have the same ‘smell’. I finally found a 911 from the 80s and I was amazed at how much I could still enjoy a car that was over 30 years old. Of course, oil management and maintenance are a given, but it doesn’t feel like it’s faded at all. Also when it comes to design, the curvaceous beauty of the original form never gets old, no matter how many times you see it. Maybe it’s something imprinted on me from my childhood, but I always feel a sense of perfection in even the simple operation of the doors.” At @weberworkshops, Douglas takes a lot of inspiration from his double garage of Porsches. The design concept of the car, one that can be used semi-permanently so long as it’s cared for, has many similarities to his own style of design and engineering. He even has his sights set next on custom Porsche parts. As it turns out, many people who own Weber Workshop products also have Porsches, opening up a world of possibilities for his ground up approach to design. Photos by @tomazawa Words by @shogojimbo (@drivethru.jp) Part 2/2