GT2-inspired Porsche 944 heading to Optima Street Car Challenge

The Optima Ultimate Street Car Challenge is right around the corner, with over 60 entrants hitting Calder Park on April 20 for drag racing, time attack, go-to-whoa and heaps more!

Plenty of those racers are doing last-minute thrashes to get their machines ready, including Scott Pigdon. He’s taking his logbook Porsche 944 ex-tarmac racer and giving it a birthday, with a GT2 look in mind.

“The goal is to build a 944 GT2 like Porsche would’ve done back in the day if they could,” he says. 

A big part of that is the widebody, as well as the Fuchs-style wheels that’re a 17x9 in the front and a whopping 17x11 in the rear. That’ll give the 944 a 315 rear tyre, which is more than enough to put down the 255rwkW this thing churns out for its turbo four pot.

“It has a 3.0-litre block from a 968,” says Scott. “With a 944 head, E85 and a MoTec M4 ECU. It makes 700Nm of torque too!”

With just over a week to go before the Optima USCC, Scott has plenty to do in order to finish off the 944 for the event. 

“It’s getting a full wrap shortly, I’m organising tyres, the disc brakes and a few other odds and ends, but it’s coming together fairly well all considered,” he says.

Scott has built plenty of wicked cars before, including a ‘66 Volvo 122, a screaming SAAB 96, and a Daihatsu Storia just to name a few. He’s all about grassroots motorsport, which is why Optima took his fancy when he saw the 2024 event pop up.

“It’s a great mix of cars as well, which is really what interests me,” he says. “The variety is awesome, so I can’t wait to get out on track and get amongst it.”

The Porsche will be rocking a fresh new wrap, Scott presenting Racer Industries, Project Mu, Cooldrive and Excess Injectors.

You can grab tickets to Optima and get all the event info at ultimatestreetcar.au, and we’ll see you there on April 20!