The Amazing Story of the Safari 911
These off-road rally style Porsches are all the rage today, but they also played a significant part in the 911's motorsports history. Let's take a trip back and look at Porsche's original SUV, the 911 Safari.
1. East African Rally
Back in 1978, Porsche had the crazy idea of entering a pair of mostly stock 911 in what was once called the toughest rally race in the world - the East African Safari. The automaker took its road going sports car, raised the suspension, added a roll cage and some external protection and lighting, and went racing. Amazingly enough, they fared rather well in the grueling 3,000 mile torture test.
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3. Preparing for the Unknown
As if the terrain and conditions presented by the East African Rally itself aren't enough, the drivers didn't even know the exact route of the race until the day before the green flag dropped. Obviously, that limits not only preparations by the drivers, but also the mechanics. So essentially, they were racing a brand new car in a setting completely foreign to them. Their ability to improvise and adapt is just another testament to the skill of the entire Porsche team back then.
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4. Delayed Victories
Despite repeated attempts, Porsche's 2nd place finish in that first running would stand as their best result at the East African Rally until 2011. It was only then that Bjorn and Mathias Waldegard scored the brand's first outright win at what is now known as the "East African Safari Classic Rally." But their next success wouldn't take nearly as long to achieve the second time around, as Porsche scored another win just four years later.
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