KAMM 912c wants to be a different type of restomod
Fed up with 1,000hp transplants? A Budapest-based tuner thinks 750kg and 170hp at 7,200rpm is where it's at...
In recent times, the love hasn’t been widespread for four-cylinder Porsches, what with 718 Boxsters and Caymans grumbling about. But we all know there have been plenty of memorable four-pot Porsches over the years, from 914 to 968 Club Sport, and it’s one of the old icons without a flat-six that’s now being given the restomod treatment: the 912.
This is the Kamm Manufaktur 912c, an ‘exquisitely engineered, beautifully built, modern take on the 60s sports car icon.’ Kamm is a Budapest-based company, founded by Miklos Kazmer. His stated aim with the car is to deliver nothing less than his “vision of the perfect 912”; what’s been confirmed so far certainly points to a very, very special old Porsche.
As with Tuthill’s 911K, weight (or a lack of it) has been a focus for the Kamm team. A restored and reinforced 912 is clad in carbon panels; the team even go so far as fitting Lexan windows, meaning the whole thing weighs just 750kg. It’s said the fit and finish of the new panels is ‘flawless’, and that extends to all the new parts as well: lights, fixings, rubber, plus the uprated brakes, suspension, wheels and so on.
Powering the 912c is an evolution of the Porsche 616 engine, built by Swiss company JPS Aircooled. Now 2.0-litres in capacity, it boasts 170hp thanks to modifications that include a 10.5:1 compression ratio, the ability to rev all the way to 7,200rpm and a ‘fast road tune’. Power reaches the road via a five-speed dog leg gearbox with Porsche hydraulic racing clutch and ZF limited-slip diff.
Kamm says that the 912c has been ‘designed from the outset to excel on road and track’. To that end the new car boasts bespoke adjustable front coilovers (said to be Kamm’s own), further adjustability on the rear ones as well, plus anti-roll bars tweakable to the driver’s preference. Centre locking wheels and sticky Yokohama AD08RS tyres are also included. The ventilated discs are clasped by a mixture of front calipers pinched from a 964 and rears from Brembo.
Though 170hp means it’s never going to be the fastest restomod out there, the appeal of Kamm’s ambition with the 912c - maintaining ‘the charm of a 1960s racer, with sensitive updates, instead of trying to completely modernise the 912 driving experience’ - isn’t hard to grasp. Four cylinders rather than six slung out back means less weight to swing, for starters…
Plus, of course, the Kamm Manufaktur 912c is lovingly assembled. This is an expensive restomod Porsche, after all. So the tuner has fitted its own carbon fibre seats inside, as well as installing air-con and a modern stereo. Those that want rear seats to stay can keep them, too. Kamm wants the 912c to be used as a road car and not just exclusively on track, so the interior spec can reflect that.
Miklos Kazmer added of the 912c: “Kamm is a proud son of Budapest car culture, striving to turn original classic cars into fast, reliable, and perfected versions of themselves, all while keeping the analogue driving experience intact.” Which sounds pretty desirable to us. Builds will kick off next year, with buyers able to supply a 912 to Kamm or have them sort the whole thing. It’s priced at €325,000, or just over £280k at today’s exchange rate.
Carbon fibre is only 15% lighter that glass fibre, so if you are making body panels which are not structural it makes little difference. If this had replica glass fibre panels it would be classified as a kit car...
Given the above, it's NOT a genuine Porsche 912, it's actually a kit car replica of a 912, built on a 912 chassis as with some Porsche running gear.
Just buy this, the engine has been rebuilt by someone good... https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1494604
I suppose the market for old 911s is now so big and the number of sufficiently wealthy clients now so extensive, that there's space in commercial terms for a deeply esoteric choice like this. But the idea anyone would want to pay this much for a wheezy flat four car is really hard to compute.
Modern cars don't suffer from the same constraints, being fitted with variable cam timing, more precise fuel metering and, often, forced induction. They can produce a lot more power in relation to swept volume whilst at the same time being far more tractable than hot engines of old. They don't have the same magic, however, and can sometimes end up feeling flat if the turbo boost isn't right or similar.
Funny how quickly this stuff gets forgotten!
Or £290k this time tomorrow, £300K next week, £400k by Christmas.
Bodes well though for Theon, a few months from now the North Americans and Europeans will be able to buy their cars with the change rattling around in their centre consoles
Keeping on topic, I like this. It's pricey, but what isn't?
https://collectingcars.com/for-sale/1973-porsche-9... This is quite pretty and a few quid left over to pimp it a little
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