Safari Workhorses To Exquisite Restomods: 911s The Kalmar Way

While I was at Estonia’s Audruring race track this winter, I spotted four safari-style Porsches parked outside a pit box-based business.

Before this, I thought that the only place I’d see a rally-spec 911 would be in its spiritual home – on the streets of Los Angeles. Who’d have known there were enthusiasts in Estonia developing these cars track-side…

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I contacted Kalmar Automotive, and asked for a small tour around their workshop. The owner and visionary Jan Kalmar wasn’t in the country – he travels back and forth to Denmark – but his friendly mechanics were more than eager to introduce me to their cars and operation.

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The Porsches that are built and serviced in this humble facility are real workhorses, designed and engineered to withstand the harsh realities of the wilderness and extreme weather conditions. A typical Kalmar RS 911 is based on an air-cooled 993 or a 964 model and modified with custom heavy-duty suspension, underbody protection, and a refurbished flat-six engine.

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The business is driven by Kalmar Automotive’s sister company, Beyond Adventure, which organizes extreme terrain driving trips for a mostly wealthy clientele. Beyond Adventure transports its 911 fleet to Lapland or Andes – or any other remote location – so participants can take part in a real endurance trial, with experienced instructors along for the ride when help is required.

So what started a specialized car rental business has now flourished into something much bigger.

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While the cars parked outside were special enough, the black 911 I was introduced to inside is something else. This is Kalmar’s ultimate ‘Safari’ vehicle, featuring carbon fiber doors and roof, a different set of custom bonnet lights, carbon-Kevlar underbody protection, and a number of small and unique ‘outlaw’ Porsche touches.

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It’s not just safari-spec machinery either, but before I show you another car in the works, I need to segue to the build that put Kalmar Automotive on the map in the first place. It started four years ago with a phone call: ‘Can you build a Porsche for Tom Kristensen?’. The answer was yes, resulting in Jan and his team working with the nine-time Le Mans winner to bring his vision to life.

Officially it’s called 7-97 #0 (Tom Kristensen’s Le Mans-winning Joest Porsche WSC-95 had the racing number #7, and the win came in 1997). Based on a 964 chassis, this backdate build was influenced by lightweight 911R and 911ST models from the ’60s.

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The white car under construction is another 964 from 1990 (just like the #0 car), but this one is in a way a production model with a #1 code in its name. There’s still a long way to go with the build, but I’ll be sure to feature it here once it’s finished. Right now you can only see a glimpse of the level of craft and customization involved with restomodding a 911 the Kalmar way.

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Exquisite attention to detail, new parts everywhere, and the magical analog feel of a Porsche flat-six – you really have to try one out to understand the special sensation you get from pushing the gas pedal in a Kalmar RS 911. And this is exactly what I did for an entire weekend. Stand by for that story…

Vladimir Ljadov
Instagram: wheelsbywovka
because@wheelsbywovka.com
www.wheelsbywovka.com

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1
Jay Soh Tsu Chung

Wow, Tom Kristensen's car looks so similar to Singer's creations!

It's both nice to see that these old air-cooled Porsche 911s are being modified and driven hard, but it's also sad that it meant the remaining number of pristine units are dwindling and prices are skyrocketing faster than a space shuttle's launch speed.

Author2
Vladimir Ljadov

That's true, their restomod does peak into the Singer territory.

3

This is pretty neat!

4

Wow, I'd love to see more on Kristensen's car

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