Singer Goes Safari

Given Porsche's motorsport pedigree, it may be odd to learn that their popular road-going victories are peppered with some off-road ones as well. But its here off the beaten path that, arguably, Porsche's rear engined configuration makes a lot of sense: the extra weight in the rear means for greater traction on less than ideal road conditions. This endearing nugget of Porsche's history has spawned a select few to create bespoke off-road ready 911's through the years. We are quite fond of one of the more recent entries—the Rhino Off-Road which is built upon the venerable 997.1 chassis—and wears our popular Porsche 5x130 spacers to boot.

Rhino Off-Road: Chassis 002

But I digress. Singer has taken their tried and true formula of touching every single piece of the car to where the road gets a bit less grippy. Underneath the face-lifted, purpose-built aesthetic is actually a 964 believe it or not. But Singer's treatment is not just for show: the car wears a beefy 8-damper suspension setup, a slew of carbon fiber bits and milled aluminum, and, as purists would have it, retains the beloved 3.6L air-cooled motor (albeit now offering 450hp courtesy of some boost).

The car was a unique commission from a long-term Singer client, but Singer's approach makes it a project that could very easily become a very nice complimentary offering to their popular road-going program. The gorgeous clamshell body panels may look too pristine to subject to off-road duty, but the panels were designed to do just that—it's quick work to take them off for easy replacement or service work where necessary.

There's WAY more detail than we can even begin to describe in this blog, but for a more in-depth look, the Top Gear video is well worth the watch. At any rate, it's awesome to see another entry into a budding Safari 911 market. In a world chock full of SUVs, a wickedly trick car like this is a breath of fresh air.

In the very least, it's a good excuse as any to bust out the best line from Back to the Future: "Where we're going, we don't need roads."

Photos courtesy of Top Gear