Last summer I wrote and decreed that Porsche should safari everything! This was in response to the news of a Taycan Cross Turismo, a lifted up version of what is now the Taycan Sport Turismo. I have since had the chance to drive that Taycan Cross Turismo from our dealership in Langley to the forest service roads in Squamish Valley. During that drive I got to experience what many would call the best of both worlds. On the Sea to Sky highway I had the car in sport with the suspension at its lowest setting, and it felt like a normal Taycan. On the forest service roads I had the car in its off-road gravel mode, and it felt like a completely different vehicle. You can see a video of that here, but now more than ever I echo the statement - safari everything.
Now I don’t know who reads this, oftentimes I feel I’m yelling into the void of our website’s News and Events section. If you are reading this, thank you - and hang on because I have a point here. Now, I am not saying someone in Stuttgart read my post asking for them to safari the 911. However, it appears my prayers may have been answered. Earlier in December of 2021, a lifted up 911 with off-road tires was spotted testing on the Nurburgring. A real life, Porsche made 911 Safari has been spotted in the wild. The concept of a safari style 911 has been teased by Porsche before. Back in 2012 Porsche teased the 911 Vision Safari Concept, paying homage to the safari 911’s of the past. The 911 SC of the 70’s had a safari variant that competed in rally events, there was an all-wheel drive 911 based 953 which won the Paris-Dakar rally, followed by a slew of attempts by the infamous 959. The Porsche aftermarket fell in love with these vehicles as 911 Safari cars popped up all over the internet around 2020. Porsche enthusiasts were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to turn their hundred thousand dollar 911’s into Safari cars. Singer, the most famous modern Porsche tuner company recently unveiled a $650k+ USD 964 based Safari 911. Surely Porsche saw an opportunity here?
The opportunity goes beyond just capturing the small group of enthusiasts who are paying big money for Safari 911s. For the same reason that vehicles like the Taycan Cross Turismo and sport SUVs like the Cayenne Turbo GT have gained popularity, the 911 Safari could also make a business case. Certain markets like China and Russia demand sporty vehicles but lack the smooth roads for practical sports car ownership. Those roads are often broken and incomplete, necessitating a vehicle with more ground clearance and suspension travel. Even in Porsche’s home market Germany, parking is often done with 2 wheels up on the curb and old city streets can be less than ideal for a sports car like a 911. So a lifted up 911 could provide the best of both worlds, much like the Taycan Cross Turismo did for me on my drive to Squamish. A 911 on air suspension with the ability to lower itself in sports mode would only be marginally less sporty than a regular 911, and with the ability to raise its suspension it would be able to go places a regular 911 would not. Again, this is all speculation. Porsche could be testing a lifted up 911 for a variety of reasons; chassis development, suspension development, motorsports development, who knows. I don't know any more about what Porsche is up to than you do. So like you, I’ll be patiently awaiting the confirmation of a go-anywhere Safari 911.
Written December 2021