Oilstainlab & Delphi Take the Half-11 on a European Tour Ahead of HF-11 Production
By pushing the Half-11 prototype to its limits across Europe, Oilstainlab is gathering the vital data needed for its upcoming production vehicle...
Oilstainlab and Delphi, a brand of PHINIA Inc., announced the official European tour of the Half-11, a homecoming for the one-of-a-kind car whose roots lie in 1960s European motorsport blended with modern technology, company officials stated in a press release. The Half-11 has been reimagined in a bespoke art car livery created in collaboration with Delphi. This artwork is a deliberate neo-digital remix of the iconic art cars of the past, paying homage to the trailblazers who laid the foundation where art, design and motorsport intersect.
The car made its official premiere with its new livery at Ultrace in Gdańsk, Poland, on June 27–28, before appearing at HEIZR Racing Dept at Hockenheimring, Germany, on July 4, and concluding its European showcase at the exclusive Tutto Bene event in Italy on September 12–13.
A Mythical Canvas: The Second Delphi Art Car
Following the success of its inaugural Alpine A110 Rally GT+ project that debuted at Tutto Bene last year, the Half-11 is Delphi’s second-ever art car. Through this initiative, Delphi says that it honors its partnership with Oilstainlab, embracing a shared belief in beautiful technology, mechanical emotionalism and uncompromising engineering. The new livery was created specifically for the Half-11’s European homecoming, and the vehicle will be driven across Europe’s most iconic automotive landscapes by Oilstainlab’s founders, Nikita and Iliya Bridan.
“The Delphi Art Car is a celebration of global car culture and forward-thinking design,” said Neil Fryer, global vice president of aftermarket at PHINIA. “It represents the collective experience we’ve gained in the aftermarket and its vital role in shaping future engineering breakthroughs.”
Half-11: Double Vision
Created by twin brothers Nikita and Iliya Bridan, the Half-11 was never intended to be a traditional commercial car. Born in Ukraine and raised in Canada, the brothers moved to Italy at age 14 to study car design, eventually attending the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California. After working for major automotive brands, they founded Oilstainlab in 2018, followed by House de Stains, the culture house of the automotive company.
The Half-11 made its debut through a viral campaign of “historical vandalism.” Oilstainlab seeded the internet with meticulously doctored, period-correct photographs, placing the fictional car in real 1960s European races. Starting with zero fabrication skills, the brothers set out to build a physical manifestation of the 1960s.
Born decades too late to experience the era firsthand, Nikita Bridan, founder and CEO, said, “With the Half-11, we set out to build a myth, alive simultaneously in the past, present and future. The Delphi Art Car is a natural extension of that vision, blending the worlds of automotive design, culture and art, making it disruptive but relatable.”
Half-11 Details
Beneath the prototype bodywork lies an unrecognizable 1966 Porsche 911 chassis, powered by a V-8 engine paired with a 6-speed manual transmission. A 3D-printed Inconel exhaust gives the car its iconic sound, while the hand-beaten aluminum body carries the curves and authentic patina to fit onto any vintage starting grid.
The Half-11 has been driven over 12,000 miles. It has raced across America from Los Angeles to New York City in just four days, drifted through the FAT ICE Race in Aspen, crossed the Atlantic to run the hill at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed, and claimed an award at the Quail, A Motorsports Gathering.
The “Euro-Vision” & The Road to the HF-11
The continued distillation of the driving experience on this tour will directly inform Oilstainlab’s upcoming production vehicle: the HF-11. Conceived as an ultra-lightweight, 2,000-pound machine, the HF-11 is being engineered to deliver a visceral, raw and unapologetically analog driving experience, the company said. By pushing the Half-11 to its absolute limits across Europe, Oilstainlab is gathering the vital data needed to ensure the HF-11 embodies the company’s ultimate mantra: “when the past overtakes the future.”
Curating the Experience: One Off House
To execute this ambitious tour, Oilstainlab has partnered with One Off House in Poland. Functioning as the operational and experiential hub for the European activation, One Off House will curate and develop a series of exclusive brand activations, offering select clients an immersive entry point into the Oilstainlab universe.
