Kenneth & DEBSTER
A Sport Classic commission built around family, memory, and a childhood dream.
In 1989, Kenneth kept a photograph of a Porsche 911 tucked into the slats of the bunk bed he shared with his siblings. He looked at it almost every night.
Thirty years later, that photograph became something tangible.
His Sport Classic commission, named DEBSTER after his wife, carries pieces of his life throughout the car. The center gauge incorporates a photograph taken from the place where his two oldest sons were born, overlooking New York City. Its materials, colors, and details were developed through a collaboration that became as personal as the car itself.
Today, DEBSTER is not preserved behind glass. It is driven through the mountains, taken to Sunday coffee with his sons, photographed with his children, and woven into the life of the family it was created for.
“My experience with Abreu Motors is about much more than building a car, it’s about bringing a dream full circle.
In 1989, when I was in high school, I shared a bedroom with my brother and three sisters. One thing I kept in that room was an article I had pulled from a magazine at the dentist’s office. It said, “You never went to sleep dreaming of driving a Nissan, did you?” alongside a picture of a 1989 Porsche 911. I stuck that picture in the slats of my bunk bed and stared at it almost every night. Thirty years later, I found a one-owner Porsche 911 964 and finally had the opportunity to turn that childhood dream into something real.
From the beginning, Fabi Abreu and the team at Abreu Motors were with me every step of the way. What started as an idea became a deeply personal collaboration, with details throughout the car that connect it to my life and my family. The car is finished in Porsche A9W Carbon Steel Grey Metallic, a modern metallic interpretation of the Slate Grey that has such a strong connection to Steve McQueen and the classic 911. The leather was sourced through Spinneybeck, using hides from European cattle, including southern Germany, bringing another subtle connection back to the car’s German origins. But perhaps my favorite detail is the center gauge. The face incorporates a photograph taken from the window of the place where my two oldest boys were born in New Jersey, overlooking New York City. It is something only my family would recognize, but every time I look at it, it reminds me that this car is about much more than Porsche. The car is even called DEBSTER, named after my wife.
A project like this doesn’t come without challenges. A full bolt-off restoration involves thousands of individual parts, decisions, details, and pieces of craftsmanship. There are inevitably things that need to be worked through along the way. What stood out to me was how Fabi handled those moments. He didn’t just build the car and hand me the keys. He made the entire process an experience, from bringing the car back to life to working through the final touches and refinements that ultimately turned it into a masterpiece.
That process is what I will remember as much as the finished car. Fabi was there throughout the journey, listening, collaborating, solving problems, and helping turn ideas that were important to me into details that are now part of the car. The finished Sport Classic is far more than a beautiful Porsche. It represents a dream that started when I was a kid, a car I searched for decades later, and a collection of memories from the life and family that came in between. It has now become part of our family’s story. The car elicits head turns and thumbs up everywhere we go. It is the centerpiece for my weekly Sunday father-son coffees. It has impressed many Porsche fanatics when we carved up the mountains around Tail of the Dragon in NC, making Turbo S owners sweat while trying to keep up with us on those windy roads. (they needed the straights to catch up!) It is me, just in the form of a car.
I couldn’t be happier with what Fabi and ABREU MOTORS created for me. I’m incredibly grateful for the craftsmanship, the partnership, and the journey.”
“This isn’t just a car I own. It’s a piece of my story, and a car I hope my family will enjoy for generations.”
Kenneth & DEBSTER