OFF-PISTE

Off-Piste

Driving Chamonix in a custom Black Crows inspired 911.

"Cars have been linked to skiing ever since winter sports really took off in the 1950s. Back then skiing was a very privileged activity, and beautiful sports cars were part of the skier's lifestyle. And to go skiing, you have to travel - often on incredible winding roads up to the mountains."

Camille Jaccoux has been living that relationship his whole life. As the founder of the legendary ski brand Black Crows, he’s built a universe around what he calls "ski culture ad libitum," and the mountains above Chamonix aren't just a backdrop, they're essentially the whole point. In that story, cars have always been playful part of it; he’s built a pink Toyota Celica, and Nissan Cubes with yellow-tinted windows, taking elements from their ski goggles. Their visual identity was built in collaboration with Yorgo Tloupas and it’s instantly-recognisable. For them, any surface is a canvas - not just the pistes - and Jaccoux has never needed much convincing to make something cool.

This 911 started with his friend Antonio, the car's owner and a fellow regular between London and Chamonix, who came to Jaccoux with a simple proposition: "Creating a Chamonix-based car with the Black Crows identity," as Jaccoux describes it, "and using it to go skiing and live adventures in the mountains." So, work started on turning a 1984 3.2 Carrera into an Alpine Racer.

The mechanical work went to James Turner and Sports Purpose, who restored the Carrera and worked to make it drive as great as it looks, with the interior going to the UK’s renowned O'Rourke Coachtrimmers. "You always want to start with the best donor car possible,” James explains. The result, with the limited slip diff fitted and uprated suspension, is something he describes as huge fun to drive. Then came the part that turned a well-built classic into something else entirely; the design.

The brief that arrived with Yorgo Tloupas was deceptively straightforward: make it feel like Black Crows.

The door sills carry mottos with the same wry sentences that come printed on Black Crows ski sidewalls: "you are leaving the ski area boundary" on one side, "glisser vers la victoire" on the other.

The brief that arrived with Yorgo Tloupas was deceptively straightforward: make it feel like Black Crows. In practice, that meant solving problems that don't normally exist. How do you create an identity loud enough for a mountain road but restrained enough to stay elegant? "The main idea was to find a way to design a new ski rack system that wouldn't disrupt the 911's lines," Tloupas explains. His solution mounts the skis to either side of a custom rack above the rear window, with a Black Crows logo as the central locking piece, creating something unique; accessible, unobtrusive, and not obscuring the rear view as you leave everyone else in the dust.

The graphics are printed in black reflective 3M vinyl, which feels stealthy in the day and bright at night. Seats and door panels are trimmed in Black Crows' signature chevron pattern, executed in leather. There are flashes of day-glo yellow across the mudguards, seatbelts, and every transparent surface, including a windshield banner that reads "service des pistes" in the brand's custom typeface. The door sills carry mottos with the same wry sentences that come printed on Black Crows ski sidewalls: "you are leaving the ski area boundary" on one side, "glisser vers la victoire" on the other. Under the bonnet there’s a patchwork of colourful logos, just like the stickered-over signs at the edge of any well-worn ski area. "My idea was to not do another off-road 911 that takes itself seriously," says Tloupas, "but to bring into this build the unique spirit of Black Crows. A mix of the rigour and timelessness of my designs, and Camille’s dry humour."

The car lives in Chamonix and is used accordingly, with an Alpine road trip in 2027 in the works; “when you've got skis on the back and you're climbing the mountain roads," says Jaccoux, "it's amazing to see how excited people get when it goes by."