With the recent ruckus over the failed(?) launch of the Ferrari Leaf Luce, and the crazy theories of Jonny Ive somehow channeling his abandoned ‘Apple Car’ work over to Ferrari, I took comfort in the only ‘Apple Car’ that mattered: any track racing Porsche wearing the glorious rainbow livery of Apple Computer!
I have to admit, finding a replica of the actual 935 K3 with the slant nose from 1980 was a tall order. In the end I settled for a modern day homage: the RWB customized Porsche 993 with all of its hand-fitted wheel arches, spoilers and decals, lovingly put together by Akira Nakai, the maestro (some would prefer “Butcher of Porsches”) behind Rauh-Welt Begriff. He literally flies from his workshop in Japan to wherever in the world his clients may be, and cuts into a real Porsche’s bodywork in order to attach and fit his custom made flarings, bumbers, spoilers and decals. It certainly isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
And like RWB, the Zebra Sharbo TX-2 stands apart in its singularly sporty and unconventional design. Drawn up by Jonny Ive in his younger days working for Barry Weaver, the TX-2 features a rugged grip pad split in two opposing sides of the lower barrel. Up top is a streamlined broad plastic clip attached to the body with concentric cutouts.
I’ve mentioned it before but it bears repeating: the oft told story of Ive incorporating some sort of fidget function in the pen’s top section is 100% BS, and I’ll bet good money the writer never handled a TX-2 before.
Will there ever be a real Apple Car that isn’t a wannabe Nissan Ferrari? Or even another official Apple liveried Porsche? Would Zebra consider reissuing the TX-2 now that Ive is (in)famous? Who knows? 
