Turn Your 1980s 911 into a Safari Off-Roader: Off-road Wednesdays

The man who started the recent safari Porsche craze will build you the off-road 911 of your dreams. 

A safari-themed Porsche is one of the hottest trends in Porsche-dom right now. Although if you want to get your hands on one, you may not know where to go. The original, factory-built cars are tough to find and can be pricey once you do. If you have the shop, skills, and materials you can try to build one for yourself, but that isn’t for everyone. Fortunately, there is another way, and that way is to have the man who started the trend build one for you.

As reported by Business Insider on its YouTube channel, Leh Keen is an American racing driver and Porsche enthusiast who founded a company called The Keen Project. The company will work with you to help source the perfect donor car. Ideally, this would be a black on black 1980 to 1989 911. It won’t stay black for long though as they will paint it in any Porsche color you desire. You can also select any number of wild ’70s style interior patterns.

Despite all the bold colors and patterns, these are not all show and no go. The entire suspension is replaced with a more off-road appropriate setup. You also get bumper bars, mud flaps, and light pods to complete the safari look and help you get through tougher terrain.

Quality control is handled by Keen himself. He personally test drives each car during the build process. You could certainly do worse than to have Keen drive your car. After all, he did win the 2009 and 2011 Grand American Rolex GT Championships, and the 2012 American Le Mans Series GTC Championship while driving Porsche’s. If he senses anything is off with the build, he will have it corrected before the car is delivered.

The nice thing about these safari cars is that they are built to just be fun. Sometimes folks can take a Porsche 911 too seriously and worry about scratching it rather than enjoying it. That is exactly why Keen decided to build these cars in the first place. Yes, they are still Porsche’s, but they are built to tear around on dirt tracks and in muddy fields. Drive them hard and put them away wet. It is all about the sheer fun of the experience. The world is not going to end if a bit of mud gets inside the car. Keen refers to his cars as the do it all 911. This type of thing may not be for everyone, but for some, nothing else will do.

The cost of a Keen built car is about $120,000. This includes the donor car and all upgrades. While you could get a brand new lightly optioned Carrera S for that kind of money, it won’t offer you the same type of thrills that a safari 911 can. Imagine spending an entire Saturday drifting a safari 911 around a muddy field. You go home, shower and change into your best outfit for dinner. Then you drive up to the valet stand in your lifted, big tired, mud-covered 911. Sounds like a great day to us, and we’ll bet you get the best spot in front of the restaurant.

Photos: Leh Keen; Business Insider

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Joe Kucinski

Joe has been obsessed with cars since he got his very first Matchbox toy in the ‘70s. In 2003, he found a new obsession in track days that led to obtaining his SCCA competition license in 2015. In 2019, he became a certified driving instructor for the National Auto Sport Association. His love for all things four wheels has never wavered, whether it's driving some of the best cars in the world on the racetrack, tackling 2,000-mile road trips in 2-seat sports cars or being winched off the side of a mountaintop in a Jeep. Writing for the suite of Internet Brands Auto Communities sites, including Rennlist.com, Ford Truck Enthusiasts, 6 Speed and more allows him to share that knowledge and passion with others.