Why This Custom Safari-Style Porsche 911 Is A Collector’s Dream Car
This bug-eyed, dirt-flinging Porsche is way more rugged (and valuable) than a factory 911.
While a factory 1986 Porsche 911 Carrera prepped for a Concours d’Elegance presentation could have trouble cracking six figures at auction, this example from Bring a Trailer just brought $210,000, and that’s no fluke. This particular 911 has been expertly modified in a “Safari style,” a qualifier that would pique the interest of any Porsche enthusiast and, apparently, the buyer who shelled out top-dollar to acquire it.
The Safari 911 modification tradition can be traced back to the 1960s, when rally drivers began notching victories thanks largely to the iconic German sports car’s drift-encouraging power and rearward weight distribution. According to Hagerty, 911s enjoyed a string of consecutive European Rally Championships from 1966 to 1968, prompting drivers and teams to continue to push the 911’s off-road prowess for decades to come.
Countless victories ensued over the years, many of which were had at East African Safari Classic Rally. The original version of this race was absorbed into the World Rally Championship, but a new version was relaunched in 2003 as a brutal endurance race spanning thousands of miles for pre-1986 two-wheel-drive naturally aspirated vehicles. Since then, off-road-ready 911s have won the Safari Classic numerous times, most recently in 2023. Hence the “Safari 911” nickname that’s become ubiquitous among Porsche fans.
In the U.S. specifically, the Safari 911 trend has caught a wave because of the history and the undeniably badass aesthetic that borders on post-apocalyptic, which the Bring A Trailer build here exemplifies. Porsche Beaverton completed the work on this car for the 2023 Porsche Classic Restoration Challenge, repainting the body black and adding a host of Safari-worthy additions, including a wood-slat roof basket, a cluster of TRE Motorsports rally lights, a custom-fabricated front bumper, a front skid plate and particularly eye-catching whale-tail rear spoiler.
The 911 rides on black 16-inch Fuchs alloy wheels measure wrapped in BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A K02 tires and a suspension from the Safari 911 hardware experts at Elephant Racing. As part of its restorative efforts, Porsche Beaverton also rebuilt the 3.2-liter M930/21 flat-six and overhauled the five-speed manual transmission, replacing its synchromesh gears, clutch, and shifter linkage.
Inside, there’s nothing particularly fancy to distract from driving—most of the interior is covered in a combo of black leather and houndstooth cloth, and there’s a Porsche Classic Communication Management head unit with navigation flanking the Porsche-branded MOMO steering wheel.
With that sort of spec, it’s all but certain that this Safari 911 build and its driver will enjoy a happy, dirt-flinging destiny.
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