1981 Safari 911 SC Provides Endless Off-Road Thrills

Off-Road Marvel

Safari Porsche 911 builds are all the rage these days, bringing back a trend from decades ago. And while many might question why anyone would want to off-road a car that most consider a joy on the pavement, there's just something special about these cars that's hard to put into words. At least, that's what Road & Track discovered after putting one through the paces recently. 

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Neither Comfortable Nor Fast

R&T believes that the best cars they've ever driven are "neither comfortable nor fast, but important because they remind us that the best things are unquantifiable." Both the Safari Porsche 911 and Ariel Atom in this test fall into that category, of course. And they share a few surprising similarities in addition to that fact as well. 

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Carefree Fun

This particular 1981 911 SC is owned by a fellow named Leh Keen, who built it for a very specific reason - to have fun without worry. "One reason this car is here is that I have a GT3 RS," he said. "I'm so scared to drive it around downtown Atlanta. I wanted to build a carefree car. I wanted to build a car to take into the woods. It checked a ton of boxes. If you hit a pothole or have to drive up on a curb, you can, but you're in a 911 the whole time." 

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Racer to Wheeler

Yes, Keen actually takes this car camping, drives it through the woods, and gets sideways on gravel roads. And he obviously loves every minute of it. He grew up driving four-wheelers, then later became a professional (and successful) Porsche racer in both the Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series.

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>>Join the conversation about this 1981 Safari SC 911 right in the Rennlist Forum!

Fun and Different

Keen's business, the Keen Project, combines the best of both of those worlds, building Safari 911s to suit their new owner's personal preferences. This red one is his own. Here, he's managed to ignore the things that traditionally make a car good to drive and just focused on having fun while also being different.

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Keep It Simple

Keen goes through each car, top to bottom, transforming it into a unique and formidable machine. He typically leaves the drivetrain stock, however. "I want to keep it fairly simple," he explained to R&T. "In the woods, you don't actually need that much power. A lot of guys are thinking maybe they want velocity stacks and all that, but it's just going to get covered in mud and dirt." 

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Dirt Toy

Keen's particular car does have a few mods in the engine bay, however. Things like factory 964 cams, along with a few holes drilled in the air box. There's an adjustable bias valve in the braking system, along with all-terrain 215/65-16 BFGoodrich KO2 tires. And it's about as fun in the dirt as you might expect.

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Terrifying Fun

"I spent the first 10 minutes in the thing praying I wouldn't bounce it off a tree before we made it out of my neighborhood," R&T exclaimed. "Driving this car is a box of dualities like speaking a different language, one you've studied and thought you understood. Is it a dump truck or a 911? Yes. Also terrible and splendid."

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Big Dollar Bliss

That all changes once you get used to the car, however. "Get to know how Keen's car moves and wants to be driven, and it calls up your early days behind the wheel slinging something simple around on tires made for million-mile commutes, watching the universe through dirty glass. The kind of bliss that no other $100,000 car I've driven has been able to re-create."

Photos: Road & Track

>>Join the conversation about this 1981 Safari SC 911 right in the Rennlist Forum!

Summing It Up

And that, friends, perfectly sums up the beauty of a Safari 911 build. It's undoubtedly crazy, a little ridiculous, but a whole lot of fun. And the fact that you can wack a few branches while you're sliding around the forest without worrying about it, well, that's just an added bonus.

Photos: Road & Track

>>Join the conversation about this 1981 Safari SC 911 right in the Rennlist Forum!

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