Feast on this rally-spec 1986 Porsche 911

Tuesday, 28 April 2020

You might not know this but the first ever race that Porsche entered a 911 in was the 1965 Monte Carlo rally. Apparently, Porsche chose the rally because it wanted to show the breadth of capabilities the 911 had.

The following year, Porsche created an optional rally kit for its sports car that added Recaro seats, a roll bar and adjustable Koni dampers. The rally racers remained in production until the 1970s and won the Monte Carlo rally three times in a row.

The maker from Stuttgart then set its sights on the East Africa Safari and, in 1978, came tantalisingly close to taking the win. However, a suspension breakage late in the race relagated the competing 911 Carrera SC to second place.

Would you like your 911 in race track or off-road trim? We're more than a bit tempted to say the latter...

Porsche built the four-wheel drive 953 generation of 911 in 1984, which won the Paris-Dakar race. The 959 supercar came after in 1985, with the 964 series bowing in 1989. The 1973-1989 period is the era fans of Porsche's rally exploits focus on now, with many throwback builds starting with the G model of 911 produced over those fifteen years.

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Thankfully, the quintessential 911 Fuchs wheels have been retained.

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* Two reasons why a two-wheel drive Porsche 911 is everything you need**

This particular example, named Syberia RS, was built for Kai Burkhard, who got himself a 1986 911 in 'collector condition' from Japan. Originally, he wanted a Humvee but decided the 50mph (80kmh) top speed when fully optimised for off-rioad usage was a bit on the sad side.

So he rebuilt the 911 to tackle whatever off-road trails he could find, with the help of German suspension builder H&R's Tailor-Made department.

While the engine revisions have been kept quiet, we know H&R swapped the original suspension for a set of adjustable custom coilovers with new spring plates, support bearings and geometry. The chassis was reinforced to take more of a beating as well.

The wheel arches have been flared out, there's a new roof rack, two bonnet-mounted rally lights and new, perforated safety bumpers (with the front one housing a winch and tie-downs on the rear).

An RS-style ducktail spoiler sits over a revised central-exit exhaust while chunky Hankook DynaPro Mud Terrain light truck tyres ensure grip out in the wops.

Inside are Recaro race seats, a roll cage, and a Momo steering wheel. A high-rise gear shift makes it look like a sequential transmission has been swapped in, though we can't be certain.

Like the look? Word on the street reckons H&R is considering making more of the build. We'll take one in the Rothman's livery, thanks. There are other options out there too, like this awesome SEMA build from last year.