The 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed showcased an impressive array of hypercars, legendary road and race machines, and Formula 1 greats. Yet, among the glitz and glamour, Oilstainlab‘s Half11 stole the show as a magnificent Frankenstein of ’60s and ’70s inspiration.
In an era where mainstream production cars are mostly uninspiring and only boutique brands like Koenigsegg and Pagani offer groundbreaking designs, two brothers from California, USA have brought to life something truly extraordinary.
Speedhunters covered the Half11 a few years back during its build phase, and it immediately piqued my interest. So when the Oilstainlab team announced their invitation to race at the 2024 Festival of Speed, my excitement level was high – I would finally witness this creation in person.
After five years of blood, sweat, and tears, twin brothers Iliya and Nikita Bridan were set to showcase their custom automotive masterpiece. Few have the opportunity to display their work on this international stage, so the pressure was on.
The Bridan twins are professional car designers, a fact evident in every facet of the Half11. Despite their lack of mechanical expertise at the project’s start, they quickly adapted, learning and outsourcing certain aspects of the build where it made sense.
The Half11 was a Festival of Speed crowd favorite. When it wasn’t screaming up the Goodwood hillclimb, it was surrounded by spectators in the pits. Half were baffled by its eccentricity, while the other half were captivated by its engineering.
To me, the Half11 feels like a 1970s Porsche Can-Am racer mixed with Mad Max, and I love it. The fact that it’s road-registered in California is just the cherry on top. It’s proof that race cars can be road-legal, though not all road cars can double as race cars.
Delving into the details, the Half11 features a 5.5-liter LS3 motor custom-built by JMS Racing Engines. With a big bore and short stroke, it revs up to 8,500rpm and delivers 650hp and 745Nm on regular pump gas.
Engine highlights include eight Inglese individual throttle bodies and a Dailey dry sump system. The headers and rear-exit exhaust – coated in white heat-resistant material and finished with a sleek 3D-printed Inconel tip – took 18 months to perfect. Power is transmitted through a Porsche 996 GT2 transmission with reversed internals. Wet, the Half11 weighs just 839kg (1,850lbs).
The custom tube chassis, engineered by Joe Scarbo, is wrapped in sculpted aluminum bodywork with an epic retro color scheme. A low-level wing finishes the rear end off in style.
The suspension design is built around a Porsche 935-style front layout with Elephant Racing-modified struts and 75mm raised spindles, while Öhlins dampers are used at the rear. Stopping power comes from Porsche 930-spec Wilwood brakes.
One of my favorite features is the wheels, which the Bridan twins designed themselves using Porsche 917 K wheels as their inspiration. The Rotiform one-offs are wrapped in chunky Avon semi-slicks.
Inside, it’s a simple affair with much of the interior being 3D-printed. OEM Porsche gauges, a quick-ratio 911 steering rack, and a Tilton adjustable pedal box complete the setup.
Oilstainlab’s creation is a testament to the power of dreams and passion. The way the global car community has embraced this build proves that when you pour your soul into a project, greatness can be achieved.
If it wasn’t already blindingly obvious, I’m thoroughly impressed by the Half11 and can’t wait to see what the Bridan twins create next.
Stefan Kotzé
Instagram: stefankotzemedia
info@stefankotze.com
www.stefankotzemedia.com
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Stefan, I'm a bit confused about your statement that one of your favorite features is the wheels. I scrolled trough several times and could not find a photo that clearly shows the wheel design. Seems odd you would not highlight a favorite feature?
I agree. There was a one shot but it’s from a distance and hard to see. I had to zoom in but they are indeed beautiful wheels. Perfect for this car.
There was a close up shot of the wheel in the feature for that exact reason, not sure why it got removed in the final selection.
Here's a slightly better shot from a different source.
As a lover of rims I second this, really tried to peer the matte black paint to see them.
So glad this got both finished and revisited! Such a unique project, hope to see it in person some day.
I want to love this, but why the LS? Would be infinitely cooler with a hot rodded Porsche unit. I get that the LS makes power and is reliable, but when you've built something so unique already, why not carry that into the power plant?
Because to make these numbers with a Porsche unit costs about $300,000 now. I’m not joking. Solid reliable built Porsche engines are serious serious wastes of money for all but the most on the spectrum enthusiasts.
I think for this price it should have an authentic Porsche unit but that would drive the cost up. Always remember if you are paying big money (over 6 figures) for an LS swapped tube frame chassis vehicle you are being hustled.
You want to know what would drive as well as this if built correctly and for cheaper? An Ultima GTR.
Any time you go for hype of a fad in the automotive community you will be ripped off.
All of this can be learned by the average guy or bought for much much cheaper. For some reason this opinion is highly controversial.
It doesn't even come close to 300k$ to squeeze 650 hp from a Cayenne turbo V8.
Really rad and an impressive power to weight ratio. I preferred it as an open top though
So, for $600,000 you get a lightly modified LS and a tube frame chassis with custom body work and a 3.0:1 power to weight ratio. I suppose that is impressive to some people. The power to weight ratio is good but there was no real display of what it can do at GWFOS. Timing the run showed over a minute which is basically putting up the hill. That green MX5 I posted a few pages back was about 3.4:1 PWR and was built including car and all parts for $25,000. It weighed 1,700lbs.
Years ago I met these brothers and visited their shop. The car was just a tube frame and iirc they had an off road Alfa Romeo in the shop and a 100cc Yamaha KT100 or HPV4 on the wall. While the project was interesting it didn't strike me as anything over the top or out of the norm for a standard hot rod shop to build. Doesn't look like it performed in any serious manner at the hill climb -- the lap time was over 1 minute and I stopped timing after that.
I think this really hammers home the point that a lot of these builds are done for the wow factor now / breaking the internet. While the PWR is impressive there is a lot more that goes into dialing in a car to actually perform. My suspicion is that this will not sell many numbers and it will be sold to people who just like to have something different and drive around town / scare themselves in once in a while when they press the gas.
In reality it is a novelty item. While cool, it will not be used for anything performance related. Just another collector car for joe blow at the golf course to brag to his buddy about! Nothing wrong with that, but the only impressive thing about it to me is the PWR.
Would have been so much easier and better to just not say anything. Why do you feel the need to be openly negative about an impressive build. The talented fabrication skills and hundreds of hours worked minimized in a few seconds by some random guy on the internet (you). This site is supposed to be a car community, which should be supportive of other automotive enthusiasts whether its your type of build or not. And if you can't be supportive, say nothing and move on. Simple as that.
Automotive hipster iconography at it's finest.
Exactly. That’s this entire website. I don’t get why we can’t speak freely about it without them getting so offended. It is what it is. Like telling a rhino he’s a rhino and he gets upset hahahaha so funny
Love the sheet-metal work. The floating dash is also very cool
We’re on the same page in these comments and I do think the design is cool. I actually like this car but I can’t get behind it because of the price. If this thing was $80,000 or $150,000 sure all day. But $600,000!? Jeesuuus LORD.
The only thing cool about it imo is the power to weight ratio (which can be achieved in anything) and the interior. Plus the fact it’s a manual.
I actually races the older brother on his simulator after the younger brother said we should race bc older bro was a karting champion. I beat him by a considerable margin ( I think around 0.7 or 1.0 second) and he got pretty butt hurt after. There was a good looking blonde girl with them. I think the older brothers girlfriend. She was…interesting to say the least.
You were invited in to visit their shop and have a go at their driving simulator. You repay them with all of these postings? Dude, get your head on straight. Not saying you aren’t correct, but show some manners, dignity, and a bit of judgement. The world is about nice things and passing it forward, not sucking up the hospitality of others and then knifing them in the back, on line.
It’s either not true or it’s the reason he doesn’t have the balls to give out his real name
Oh boy, an internet tough guy. Watch out everyone. Imagine threatening to fight people because they think your takes on cars are dumb. What a mental midget.
I went to YT and watched video of this thing. Nasty! That thing is loud and revs like an F1 engine. Nice! Love their shop too! Porsche for life!
so what's Porsche about it? Gauges and a transmission = $600k?
Loved this back in the build stage, and seeing it at GWFOS, it is a hasty but perfect iteration of what's coming next, which the NILU27 just nails.
Analog, but beautiful everything down to the bolt. This project doesn't have that level of beauty, but it matches its' engine choice with its brutally honest tube chassis, and there's definitely beauty in that. Glancing at the comments here, someone calls this a Rhino, and that's great: Rhinos are beautiful, strong, basic, and brutalist. I could care less how this thing performs as long as it can keep stability at all speeds the chassis and hydroplany tires can cash, it's just an absolute beautiful bast4rd!
If I were Steve McQueen, this would be in my garage... But not for serious asset money lol ridiculous.
Now this looks like a concept from the 60s and 70s very period correct yet it's something very modern
Would love to see more builds like this one it's just so damn cool
Listen bud, I know you idolize me, wish you were me and may or may not have a man crush on me but I currently don’t have the time to take on an apprentice. My suggestion is that you look for a local shop and ask if you can start helping out, cleaning floors, taking out trash, washing parts etc. After a year or two try looking me up again and maybe we can talk. Oh, and stop making up silly story’s, that’s not going to help you with getting a job.