The 911’s four-cylinder little brother rarely gets much love, but this one’s been tuned to 190 hp.
Carbon fiber-bodied Porsche 911s are nothing new. Every week, it seems there’s another restomod company making aircooled P-cars lighter than ever. But while the 911 gets all the attention, the humble 912 seems forgotten, even among Porsche fans. That’s why this carbon-bodied 912, which weighs just 1,541 pounds, is cool to see.
It’s called the 912c and it’s built by KAMM, which extensively modified the original Porsche 912 to be better in every way while retaining the original car’s charm. The Porsche 912 is a unique car because it wasn’t made for very long (1965-1969) and it was designed to be an affordable alternative to the first-gen 911, to bridge the gap between it and the Porsche 356. It shared the same chassis and body as the 911 but instead of that car’s flat-six engine, the 912 used the 1.6-liter flat-four-cylinder engine from the 356 SC. From the factory, it made 90 horsepower and used a four-speed manual transmission.
The KAMM 912c starts as a donor 912 and then gets a full chassis and body restoration. For the latter, customers can choose either a semi-carbon fiber body or the newly released full-carbon body. The full-carbon body is lighter but more expensive. It also gets lighter-weight Lexan polycarbonate glass and even carbon fiber side mirrors. The body is then painted in the customer’s color of choice and the original body trim is restored, so it looks stock.
Swiss engine builders JPS Aircooled built the modified 912 four-cylinder engine, bumping its displacement up to 2.0 liters and its output to 190 horsepower. That’s KAMM’s “fast road/track day” state of tune but there may be other tuning options available. Keeping with that vibe, the KAMM 912c uses a five-speed dogleg manual transmission but customers can choose between a close-ratio track-use ‘box or a long-ratio road-use one. Titanium or Inconel exhaust systems are available, too.
The suspension is a five-way electronically adjustable coilover system by Tractive, which is adjustable via a dial in the cabin. It also gets AP Racing brakes, a ZF limited-slip rear differential, and a choice of four different wheels: five-lug “917-style,” steel-wheel-looking alloys, heritage Fuchs, or three-piece center-locking wheels.
Shedding a ton of weight and keeping power to a modest 190 horsepower is the right way to do a Porsche 912. It should still feel like the light, nimble, pure sports car it always was, just with a much better power-to-weight ratio. And it looks almost completely stock, just with a lower ride height, cooler interior, and snazzier wheels.
If you want one of these carbon fiber 912s, you’re going to pay top dollar. For the fully carbon-bodied KAMM 912c, you’ll pay $436,600, which includes the donor car. If you already have a 912 donor car, the conversion will cost $392,940. For a semi-carbon-bodied car, you’ll pay $392,940 including the donor, but with your own supplied donor it costs $349,280. There are only two more built slots left in 2023, though, so you better act fast if you want one.
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