Oilstainlab are coming to Goodwood Festival of Speed

If you’ve been an Apex reader for a while now, you may remember an interview we did with Nikita Bridan, one of the twin masterminds behind the prototype ‘Half 11’. A car that is half Porsche 911, half vintage racer. The result? A rebellious fusion of design and engineering. The good news for UK fans is that next weekend (11th - 14th July) the Half 11 will be making its Goodwood debut at the Festival of Speed, giving attendees the chance to revel in the chaos of this unhinged creation.

Written by Archie Hill for The Apex by Custodian.

Piloting the car up the Hill is French racing driver Gabriel Aubry, who currently competes in the World Endurance Championship, the European Le Mans Series and the IMSA Championship // Source: Oilstainlab

Left: The Half 11 alongside Oilstainlab's 'Shadow Graffiti' 1974 Porsche 911 RSR Tribute // Right: Nikita Bridan perched on the enormous rear wheel of the Half 11 // Source: Oilstainlab

For those not familiar with their work, Nikita and his twin brother Iliya run the California based ‘boutique builder’ Oilstainlab. A company they formed after studying car design in Italy and working as designers for household names like Toyota and Honda. It has since become their playground, facilitating projects that resonate with their own ideals.

“It's funny looking back at it, but it really set the basis for what Oilstainlab became. In Italy it was basically coach building, the romanticism, the idea of what a car could be. Then California informed us a little bit more with storytelling, the whole Hollywood connection, and obviously the technical skills, the digital skills that we later learned, and that became Oilstainlab. We are basically two ingredients.”

When you take a look at their back catalogue, which includes a ‘Marlboro’ 1972 911 RS Tribute, a 1974 ‘Dropped Alfa’ GTV Safari, and Ken Block’s Hoonipigasus, for which they did the overall aerodynamic design concept, you get an idea of what gets these guys are about.

1974 Alfa GTV Safari (aka 'Dropped Alfa' - the name comes from the fact that the car was dropped off a flatbed truck while en route to a mechanic. The twins were able to salvage the car and turn it into the ultimate 'Safari' spec) // Source: Oilstainlab

'Shadow Graffiti' 1974 RSR Tribute next to 'Marlboro' 1972 RS Tribute // Source: Oilstainlab

Renderings from the aerodynamic concepts the twins worked on for Ken Block's Hoonipigasus (Hoonipigasus was created with one goal in mind – to be the fastest overall at the most iconic and legendary hill climb in the world...Pikes Peak. Unfortunately engine issue stopped the Hoonigan team from setting any timed runs. Ken was killed in a snowmobiling accident in January before he could get another chance at running the car) // Source: Oilstainlab

This Wednesday (10th July), they’ll also be previewing their very first production vehicle…

“We are basically going through a lot of the final production engineering on it right now. The Porsche purists will be thrilled, it will have flat six power so don't fret. It is no longer 911 based, it is a bespoke car, fully bespoke chassis. We have started with a blank sheet, there is nothing carry over, completely new. It is our vision of what is missing in today's world of high performance cars. We don't call it a supercar, we don't call it a hypercar, it's just what's missing in modern day cars. A lot of it is just bloat and weight, so it's a very compact car, it's very lightweight, it's pretty extreme.”

Nikita works on the Half 11. The car is powered by a custom built LS V8. "It has a crazy big bore, really short stroke, so it revs out to 8,500 RPM. About 650 horsepower on pump gas." // Source: Oilstainlab

Alongside the Half 11, there will be a strong Formula 1 presence, as Max Verstappen takes to the Hill on Sunday at the wheel of his title-winning Red Bull RB16B. Team-mate Sergio Perez will also be taking to the Hill in the record-breaking RB19, as will Daniel Ricciardo in the 2011 championship-winning RB7. Williams team-mates Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant will be sharing driving duties in Keke Rosberg’s 1982 championship-winning FW08, and Fernando Alonso, will be driving the new Aston Martin Valiant on the Friday.

Aston Martin's track-focused (but road legal) Valiant, developed in collaboration with Fernando Alonso // Source: Aston Martin

Nascar legend Richard Petty will also be in attendance for the full four days to mark the Petty Family's 75^th Anniversary in motorsports. He'll be celebrated with a special balcony ceremony on the Friday, and his son Kyle will be driving his father's iconic 1970 Plymouth Superbird.

Be sure to follow @custodian.club on Instagram to stay up to date with our coverage of the event.