A Look at This Safari Ready Porsche (Photos)
While Porsche's are well known for their prowess on an asphalt racetrack, there is something incredibly appealing about watching one skidding sideways and shooting rooster tails in the dirt. With the proper modifications and the accompanying setup, classic 911 models have proven to be quite capable rally machines. This kind of awesomeness can be seen in Patrick Long's 1985 911 Carrera "Safari" car built for the Luftgekühlt air-cooled Porsche gathering.
1. A Collosal Collaboration
This rally-ready 911 is a superb example of how building an off-road "Safari" 911 can be done right. Porsche factory race driver, Patrick Long, enlisted the help of a handful of individuals who are no strangers to Stuttgart's air-cooled beauties to build a rally-inspired 911 to be auctioned off for Butch Walker’s Pancreatic cancer research foundation. Individuals who had a hand in the build include Long himself, Joey Seele of Emotion Engineering, Rod Emory of Emory Motorsports, Benton Performance's John Benton, Deus Ex Machina's Carby Tuckwell, and Pike's Peak Hill Climb champion and filmmaker Jeff Zwart.
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2. Building Upon an Original Beauty
The car before us started life as a 1985 Carrera with 79,000 original miles. Long explains that they wanted to use a G-model Porsche in order to harken back to the good old days of Porsche's rally success. The car apparently came with all service records and documentation from the day it left the dealership to the time Long took possession of the car, which may leave some people cringing at the fact that such a pristine example of a car was used for such an extensive build. That said, the build would be completed in 4 months, so the guys needed a car that required little work outside of their rally modifications to meet their deadline.
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3. Staggering Suspension
First order of business was the car's suspension as a Safari 911 is more than just a set of oversized knobby tires and an increased ride height. Long relied on the expertise of Joey Seele to strip the stock suspension components and dial in a full set of KW coil-over a-arm suspension with 9 inches of travel for full off-road capabilities. Rod Emery, who has long been synonymous with outlaw Porsche, then stepped in to design a chassis integrated roll-cage and functional skid plates that blend seamlessly into the bumpers. Paul Eddleston of Braid Wheels used his experience of rallying his own air-cooled 911 to spec out a set of wheels wrapped in purpose-built Pirelli tires that would work well on the road while also standing up to the abuse of rough terrain. The underlying theme was not only to have an aesthetically pleasing setup but one that would also stand up to the thrashing that accompanies rally driving.
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4. Reliable Power
Long and the boys did not get too crazy with the powertrain as their main focus was reliability over outright horsepower. Although the engine was in good running order before the build began, Pelican Parts apparently requested to do a few DIY video segments with the engine and essentially freshened it up wherever it was needed. Besides a free-flowing exhaust (SSI headers with sport exhaust) and a limited-slip differential (absolutely essential for off-road excursions), the Safari 911 is basically in stock form and makes a touch over 200 horsepower out of its 3.2 liter flat-six: perfectly reliable for all conditions.
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5. A Touch of Originality
Because the car was in such great condition, Long wanted to preserve the originality of the sheet metal and interior as much in the event that the future owner ever wanted to revert it back to stock. The interior was kept intact with the factory color code sans the stock seats which were replaced in favor of more and supportive Recaro units. The car features much of its original white paint that has been well maintained and still has a nice luster to it. Keeping the car in its original form where possible has not shaved any weight, but has, in fact, gained a couple hundred pounds with the extra suspension, spare tires, lighting, roll-cage, etc. Nevertheless, the extra heft can work in the cars favor to gain traction on softer surfaces. For the purists out there, you can rest easy knowing that all original parts were included with the sale of the car.
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6. A Charitable Cause
The end result of this Safari 911 is a car that can be driven virtually anywhere and will look great doing it. The Luftauto 911 was featured at the California Luftgekühlt air-cooled Porsche gathering organized by Patrick Long and was eventually auctioned off by RM Sotheby's. Although the car was valued at $150,000 prior to the April 2016 auction, bidding caught fire and the car eventually rolled off of the block at a whopping $275,000! What makes this even more special is that the proceeds went to Butch Walker's pancreatic cancer research foundation, The Autumn Leaves Project.
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