Porsche 911: Off Road

Cars

so many ways to love an offroad-raised Porsche 911

A long dormant daydream we’ve had about crossing the planet in a 911 was awakened this week when we stumbled across this crazy dope custom 911 built for the gritty byways of the planet.

This beautiful custom build, dreamt up by a team of collaborators from event air-head community Luftgekuhlt.

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The idea was to create a unique custom build and auction it for Pancreatic Cancer charity. Names checks include Joey Seely at E-motion Engineering, who apparently led the way on the overall build. Rod Emory of Emory Motorsports meanwhile headed up the design, fabrication and fitment of the rally-style bumpers and underbody skid plates. Modernica made special one-off wooden floor mats and a unique layered-hardwood gearshift knob. John Benton and the team at Benton Performance led the charge on electronics and wiring, with Carby Tuckwell of Deus Ex Machina on point for custom details.

There’s something undeniably steely in traversing the globe in something not altogether bust suited for purpose – and even steezier that a group of folk had the vision to make this dream come true. And it came true all right. The car was auctioned for $275000. Power to their elbows.

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There are of course noble precedents to this uniquely beautiful car. A few years ago Jalopnik featured this badass gunmetal RS offroader. This was the Safari RS. Apparently the car was a collaboration between Porsche 911 GT3 Cup powerhouse Kelly-Moss Motorsports and Stone Brothers Garage. It was built out of an old 911 race car body. There’s a winch. It also has a big fuel cell in the front so you’re less likely to get stranded out in the wild.

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But the Porsche factory of course, also have been steadfast in keeping to the integrity of the 911’s ‘Rallye Sport’ moniker. In 1984 three 911s were modified to 959 specifications to homologate them into Group B. These were used in the Paris-Dakar Rally, with Jacky Ickx the leader of the team.

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In 1985 the 959 rally variant was ready itself, but it experienced a disappointing start: all three cars failed to finish. However, in 1986 the 959 finished 1-2 at the Paris Dakar. The 959 was never seriously considered for a Group B Rally season, however. The cost of completing a full season would have been a drain on resources that even the boys in Stuttgart couldn’t handle.

Come on Porsche. Surely there’s a market for a contemporary Lane-Muncher in the shape of a 911.

And in case you doubt the 911’s offroad potential. Check this out.

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