[Aika Car Car Culture Original]
On the country road under the sunset, the engine roars from far and near, followed by the glare of the rally spotlights, and a sports car drifts into the corner and flies under your gaze, leaving only the dust and the faint smell of rubber... The signature frog-eye headlamp and the characteristic hoarse roar of the horizontally opposed engine, no doubt, is exactly a Porsche 911, which is not a picture I came up with out of thin air, but a reality that is coming.
Just like the "SUV boom" set off by a number of supercar and luxury brands more than a decade ago, these car companies are now targeting a more niche market segment - high-chassis sports cars.
Recently, from time to time, foreign media have exposed spy photos of Porsche 911 high-chassis models, and from these photos, the test car is already a quasi-mass production state with a high degree of completion. The new car is reportedly expected to be released during the year along with the mid-term revamp of the 911.
In fact, it is far more than Porsche that has decided to open up this segment, and in the plans announced by Lamborghini, four new cars will be launched in 2022. According to rumors, one of them will be a high-chassis model based on the Huracán EVO. Driving a sports car off-road? Could it be that this segment, which sounds a bit ridiculous at first, is like the SUV boom in previous years, the product of manufacturers being forced to compromise the market? In fact, the "high-chassis sports car" is not a new thing, and even behind them, it is a period of "golden years" worth remembering in the history of motor sports.
Porsche's indissoluble love affair with rally
Fast forward to Europe in the 1960s, and although F1 has become the most influential top-level car event, huge capital investment and excessive technical thresholds have shut out many automakers. In contrast, the Monte Carlo Rally and the European Rally Championship (the predecessor of today's WRC) can be contested with modified production cars, which are more friendly to small factories and private teams with limited budgets. Moreover, this still infancy of the event still needs to be improved in terms of vehicle grouping, which makes many car manufacturers think that "there is an opportunity". Therefore, the audience at that time was even fortunate to see the Mercedes-Benz 220SE (W111), Ford Mustang fastback, MINI COOPER and the spectacular scene of the big brawl.
As the predecessor of the WRC, the Monte Carlo Rally of Morning Flag is not only highly sought after by car fans, but also attracts a large number of manufacturers and private drivers to participate with a low threshold.
In 1965, two original 911s (901), officially supported by Porsche, made their debut at the Monte Carlo Rally. Eventually, German driver Herbert . Linge (Herbert M.) Ringer) and Navigator Peter Falk Foucault) drove the 147 car and finished fifth. While this is not the most glorious achievement in Porsche's illustrious racing history, it at least proves that the ambitions of the Stuttgart people go far beyond the roads and the track.
These early Porsche 911s had little indistinguishable power from the commercially available versions, with only basic modifications and upgrades to rally rules and safety. However, with excellent performance, it still showed a good competitiveness on the field.
The effort paid off, and in 1967, two years after Porsche's rally debut, Swedish driver Vic Elfor, known as "Quick Vic", drove the 911 car to win the first rally in the brand's history at the European Rally Championship.
In the 1970s, the Porsche 911 was increasingly seen in rally racing and became the favorite choice of many private drivers and teams, but the R&D team was not satisfied with this, and they were determined to challenge the ceiling of long-distance rally racing.
Fast forward to 1978, porsche, which had a smooth ride at Le Mans, decided to enter the East African Safari Rally, a race with a total distance of nearly 5,000 km held in Kenya with complex terrain and was known for its hardships.
To this end, Porsche developed the high-chassis 911 SC Safari model based on the high-performance model 911 SC, which, thanks to the longer-stroke shock absorber, increased the minimum ground clearance of the body to 280mm. In addition, explosion-proof glass, tension headlights, chassis body reinforcements roll cage and other standard equipment of rally racing have also appeared on the 911 SC Safari, so this car is also recognized as the ancestor of the high chassis 911 model.
The factory's 911 SC Safari racing car features beautiful Martini body pulls and Porsche's iconic FUCH rims.
Although the 911 SC Safari car with its beautiful Martinella accidentally hit a boulder during the race, causing serious damage to the rear axle, it still finished second with swedish driver Bjorn Waldeegard's excellent driving skills.
Porsche's indissoluble relationship with Rally
In 1984, Porsche officially established the Le Fumen Rally Team, which initially used the 911 SC RS to compete in Group N, but soon the addition of Group B in the WRC group attracted Porsche's interest.
In fact, at that time, the WRC B group not only attracted the attention of Porsche, with open rules and the super appeal of the event itself, Lancia, Audi and other brands have been competing in this arena for many years and have achieved impressive results.
In order to allow more manufacturers to invest in the WRC event, the FIA relaxed the restrictions on racing rules, not only the total production of 200 cars can participate, but also for the weight of the body, material and engine intake and exhaust form there are only very few restrictions, the opening of the rules greatly improves the competition viewing, but also buries serious safety hazards.
However, a large number of new teams poured into the event and began an all-out "arms race". For a time, the Audi Quattro, Lancia 037, Ford RS200, Peugeot 206 Turbo 16 and other rally cars came into being, and the craziest and most nostalgic era in the history of WRC began.
In order to create a car that was competitive enough in Group B, Porsche engineers greatly increased the engine power, they installed two KKK superchargers for the 2.9L V6 engine derived from the 962 Le Mans race car, and the maximum power was increased to 294Kw (400 hp), which was enough power, but the problem also came with it. Porsche's usual rear-drive layout was simply untenable at this level of power, in the 1980s without any electronic assistance.
Therefore, they have developed a separate full-time four-wheel drive system, which distributes the torque between the front and rear wheels in real time by the computer, and in the state of rapid acceleration, the system can transmit up to 80% of the power to the rear wheels, and can adjust the power of the left and right wheels according to the adhesion of the road surface and tire grip.
The system is even equipped with a separate gauge on the centre console for real-time display of the amount of rear axle differential slip and the ratio of torque distributed to the front axle.
In addition, the engineers spared no expense for the car,from Kevlar fibers to hollow aluminum-magnesium alloy wheels to putter suspension, which today seems to be outdated. In the end, they built the first hypercar in Porsche history, the 959.
Regrettably, in 1986, just after the official release of the 959, the vicious accidents caused by endless technical competition led to the death of many drivers, and the FIA finally decided to cancel the group of events, seeing that the new cars that had spent a lot of money to develop were useless, and the event department had to focus on the Paris-Dakar Rally.
Despite the failure of its first race in 1985, the following year the 959, driven by French driver René Metge and led by Dominique Lemoyne, finally won the Dakar car category.
These legendary histories not only leave an important chapter in Porsche's history, but also make the high-chassis Safari 911 a dream lover in the hearts of many fans. Although Porsche has hardly launched a commercially available version of the high-chassis 911 in history, in the field of RetroClassic and custom modified cars, such maverick 911s have never been absent.
Birth of "God Car" 959
Singer 911 ACS
Well-known car critic James.May gave this comment to the vintage brand Singer: "This is a love letter to the classic 911", and the brand also has a special understanding of the Safari model - this is the Singer 911 ACS. The customer who customized the car initially made a nearly impossible request for Singer: "Build an air-cooled 911 with super off-road capabilities that will be able to handle the Baja 1000 race." ”
As an answer, Singer upgraded its 3.6-liter twin-turbo horizontally opposed 6-cylinder engine based on the 964 of the 1980s, which can deliver a maximum power of 331kW (450 hp). In addition to the body has been greatly improved, the car is also equipped with Bailuchi tires, chassis guards, roll cages and other off-road equipment.
RUF Rodeo
If you're a fan of classic 911 and happen to be a camping enthusiast, 80% will add RUF Rodeo to the Dream Car list. Despite its classic look, the car was actually built on a carbon fiber chassis developed by RUF. This also means that it not only has a certain ability to pass, but also has the road handling that does not lose the ordinary 911 model, after all, in the same platform architecture, it also gave birth to the successor model of "Yellow Bird" - CTR.
In terms of power, the car can choose a horizontally opposed 6-cylinder naturally aspirated engine developed by RUF, the former can produce a maximum power of 375 kW (510 hp), the latter has a power level of 515 kW (700 hp), in addition, RUF has also created a four-wheel drive system suitable for non-paved roads.
In addition, RUF Rodeo not only has a retro-inspired brown interior, but also a rugged front bullpen bumper and huge roof luggage that makes it look wild.
Porsche 911 Daker
Having said that these beautiful custom models, we may wish to take a look at the official works from Porsche. As early as 1989, Porsche developed a concept car called Panamericana based on the four-wheel drive model of the 964, and made it the father of the 911, Ferry. Porsche's 80th birthday gift. At the time, designer Harm Lagaay's philosophy was to create a Targa model that combined a convertible, sports car and off-road vehicle.
In fact, Panamericana's overall design does exactly that, with exposed four-wheelers and Targa's unique convertible body making it look like a retreat, and many design elements of the headlights and interior have been used in later models such as the 993 and Boxster. According to the original plan, the car will be produced in small batches as a customized model after its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show. However, the world is unpredictable, and Porsche in the 90s has been deeply involved in financial crisis, and the mass production plan of the car has also been terminated.
Recently, foreign media have frequently exposed spy photos of the high chassis 911 test car. Compared to the regular model, in addition to the higher ground clearance and flat ratio more suitable for off-road tires, the extremely pull-style air intakes also completely distinguish it from the ordinary 911 model.
It is speculated that the 911's high-chassis model may share the powertrain with the four-wheel drive 992 Carrera 4S, and for reference, the 3.0L horizontally opposed 6-cylinder engine currently on board the Carrera 4S has a maximum power of 329 kW (443 hp) and a maximum torque of 528 Nm. With the release of the mid-term 911 redesign, the power level may increase slightly. As for the exact name of the new car, although many will follow the history of the 911 Safari every day, it is rumored that Porsche may use the name 911 Daker in the future to commemorate the legendary 959 car.
In fact, there are brands that have a tradition of high-chassis sports cars that are far more than Porsche. Since the 1960s, almost all of Lancia's heavyweight products have been saddled with an important mission – to continue the brand glory in rally. With the resurgence of such models in recent years, new players like Lamborghini have poured in. What kind of achievements have these brands made of this? How is the future planned? And listen to the next breakdown.
Highlights review:
The Porsche 911 that can go off-road! Or it will be named after Dakar
Porsche 911 GT3 RS spy photos are expected to be available within the year
The early 911 electrification is on the agenda
High chassis 911 model inventory