The classic Porsche 911 is overhyped, according to the man dedicated to perfecting it
Kalmar Automotive's mission is to create the perfect Porsches for 'nerds' and push the limits, making 911s into everything from rally cars to hypercars
Making it in the restomod business isn’t as easy as some may think. Everyone has had the same bright idea of rebuilding and upgrading a classic, usually a Porsche 911, and charging some ungodly sum of money for it. But, somehow, Jan Kalmar has found himself a space to squeeze into, and Kalmar Automotive is gathering steam and getting more ambitious by the day. What began in 2018 as a company offering fettled, restored 964s is now on the brink of launching a hypercar, to sit next to a range of extensively re-engineered 911 road and safari cars, some costing upwards of half a million pounds.
Speaking to Kalmar, you begin to understand why his world moves at such pace. He’s as far from a polished, PR-trained company boss as you can get – zero fluff, no filter, straight to business. ‘I set out to make a classic 911 with a modern feel. We took that project way further than anyone expected… then I thought f*** it, let’s do it [build a hypercar].’
Kalmar’s motoring adventures would be the envy of any car enthusiast. Born in Denmark, he’s a lover of engineering, having worked with heavy machinery on a farm in his early years. He went on to start a racing career, winning a national championship in a Seven-style car he built himself, and later competing in the hallowed Nürburgring 24 Hours and managing a works Lotus team in the World Endurance Championship.
But it was his love for gruelling, cross-continental safari drives that led him to start his own company, building tailor-made long-distance machines for customers and running his own safari tours. This began under the Kalmar Beyond Adventure moniker in 2011, with the Kalmar Automotive restomod business arriving later to run alongside.
‘As a kid I was just hyperactive,’ he says. ‘I liked to take things apart, but I wasn’t so good at putting them back together. I was around big tractors, big engines, and trying to understand how they work. I never raced go-karts because my parents didn’t have the financial capabilities for that. But – and don’t tell my wife – the happiest day of my life was when I got my driver’s licence. The day I got it I was stopped by the police, because I drove like an absolute jerk. They were so angry because they could see my licence was still unfolded and brand new!’
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Like many enthusiasts, Kalmar’s first car was a Mini, but not the usual hatch – a first-gen Clubman. ‘I tuned the shit out of that car,’ he says with a smile. ‘It was a 1380cc, it had 130 horsepower, 13-inch wheels, disc brakes, a roll‑cage, you name it. And I was absolutely terrorising the neighbourhood in that car.’
But the Clubman’s life came to an abrupt end when, after spending 13 months away, Kalmar returned home and took it out for a long-awaited hammering. ‘While I was away a speed bump was put on my “test track” – which was a public road – and I hit it hard, cracked the chassis and the car was no more.’
Eventually, Kalmar began earning enough money to take his driving to the track and built a Super Seven with a Honda Fireblade engine. ‘I started racing it and I got quite good. I won my first race; I won all the races that I finished in my first season, and from there I got into endurance racing with Aston Martin and BMW, whatever I could find.’
Jan’s racing exploits came to an end when he fell ill with a problem with his balance system, which made high-speed, high-G-force circuit driving nauseating. He then focused his efforts on long-distance safaris. His weapon of choice? A second-gen Porsche Cayenne.
‘I was deciding between three cars. The Dacia Duster, which I’m an absolute sucker for, because they’re light, they keep going and they’re simple. Then a Volkswagen T5 or T6, because the newer ones are too fragile and I could fit all my kit inside. But I’m Porsche-infected, so it had to be the Cayenne. I didn’t touch the engine at all, but I fitted a snorkel to get clean air in.
'I also fitted a big fuel tank, full underbody protection, stronger wishbones, a full roll-cage and some weight reduction. It’s a three-seater with one seat in the back for sleeping. I bought it new, and it’s been through Europe, South America, Australia, North America, Africa and Asia. Not Antarctica yet, but that’s something for the future – I want to get it to the South Pole.’
Jan has already taken the Cayenne on a record-breaking 10,000-mile-plus trek from the northern tip of Norway to the base of South Africa, his team of three completing the journey in eight days and 21 hours – beating the previous best by seven hours. Soon his safari trips attracted interest from others.
‘Every time I spoke about the off-road drives, people would think it was cool and want to join me. I started a winter driving programme for customers. Manufacturer [winter driving] programmes were there to sell cars rather than educate drivers, using big fat road tyres. So with Marcus Grönholm [Finnish WRC champion] we launched the Marcus Grönholm Winter Experience with some Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions and 911s. We bought these to keep the depreciation down – they were super-cheap. Now I’ve had them for ten years or so and, if anything, they’ve gone up!’
Between winter driving events, Kalmar decided to convert the cars into safari machines for the warmer months, and from this Beyond Adventure was born, taking customers on tour around the world in classic, off-road-prepped 911s. ‘The cars we use are not garage queens or beautifully crafted. The 7‑97 RS-R is a Kalmar Automotive car, but the others are just tools. I’m okay with customers standing on the roof to take pictures of an elephant, because the cars are made for this. I’m not worried if somebody goes off and breaks a little chrome part or something.’
You probably wouldn’t want to break anything on a full-blown Kalmar Automotive machine, however. These are exquisite, entirely bespoke 911s in the mould of a Theon or Tuthill, upgraded right to the core and developed to be the ultimate classic 911 driver’s cars. And all that re-engineering is deemed necessary because in Jan’s view – and somewhat controversially – standard air-cooled 911s aren’t what they’re cracked up to be and need plenty of work to make them drive as good as they look.
He puts it rather more bluntly: ‘When my generation was young, we all dreamt about owning a 911. We couldn’t afford one then, but now more and more can. But when they buy the car they used to dream about, they drive it, and realise it’s a piece of shit. It drives like a broken bone. A Golf drives better, and the 911’s headlight costs the same as a Golf.’
Kalmar initially chose the 964 generation when building his ultimate 911, openly admitting that the success of a certain restomod company in California led him down this route. The first car was commissioned by none other than endurance racing legend Tom Kristensen and the model was christened the 7‑97 – the 7 referencing Kristensen’s first Le Mans-winning number, and ’97 being the year of his first victory.
But after three years of development, Kalmar felt he’d hit a ceiling with the project – ‘the rear axle of a 964 is from 1932,’ he says – and it was back to the drawing board, this time with the later 993. ‘We converted a 993 chassis to 964 body panels, and working from there I got what I wanted. A car you feel like driving 1000km in.’
That’s not to say it was easy. Kalmar is hands-on with developing his cars, and it took extreme testing to get the 7‑97 to his liking – some of this taking place on the test track adjacent to Kalmar’s production facility in Denmark, but also on the road. ‘I did high-speed testing with the 7‑97 on the autobahn, at way over 300kph [186mph]. And the shape of an old 911 isn’t made to do 300kph. There was so much lift at the rear. At more than 300kph I released the throttle while going straight, and the car just started going sideways. I thought, “What the f***?” and I knew it was an aero problem.
‘So I went to the aero team, and every inch, every little angle on the car has been changed. Nobody will see it, but it’s not like anyone else’s 911.’ And yes, for Kalmar that includes Singer. ‘The customers we aim for are the nerds, the ones that really know what they want. Three years ago at Goodwood there was a boy holding his father’s hand. He saw our car and said: “Look, it’s a Singer.” I was really proud, but I thought no, I don’t want to be Singer. It’s good that they are there, but we want to be something else, because a 993 is so different to a 964.’
After lavishing all this attention on the 7‑97, Kalmar felt that the company’s full potential could only be realised with something more bespoke, more extreme, and more ambitious – and thus the 9x9 hypercar was born. It’s a modern reincarnation of the 959, based on a 993 chassis with 992 running gear, high-downforce bodywork and up to 917bhp. Just 27 will be made, and Kalmar is targeting a 7:00 lap at the Nürburgring – with simulations indicating that 6:45 should be possible.
Technically, this isn’t the first time Jan has worked on a sub-seven-minute hypercar. ‘As a freelancer I was called in to work on the 918 Spyder, testing the brakes, and later the 991. And there I learnt how little money suppliers are given to develop a car. I think our shock absorbers cost maybe 100 times more than an OEM system. When you look at how little it costs to produce a production car, you wonder how it’s possible. It costs about fifteen times more to build a 7‑97 than a new 911. But we make one at a time and they make hundreds every day.’
Away from his day job of building 911s and hypercars, Kalmar’s daily wheels are quite mundane – a BMW 320d. But there are other, much more exciting cars in his personal garage, and he has a particular taste for lightweight British icons. ‘I’m a big sucker for Lotus. I like the looks, I like the size, I actually think they’re quite reliable. They’re super difficult to drive if you want to explore the limits. You have more grip than power, which is unusual these days.
'I actually wanted to make an Elise for winter driving, but if you hit a snow bank and damage the chassis, it’s gone. I have a handful of Elise S1s, a 340R, a few Caterhams and Radicals. Modern cars are big and heavy; a 992 is a big car… They say the biggest change with the new GT3 is that you can get it with rear seats. Every time customers tell me we need seats for the kids, I say if you like your kids, don’t put them in the car.’
In an ever-changing new car market, with EVs on the horizon for major manufacturers, Kalmar sees himself fitting in just fine. ‘I do think about the planet and the future,’ he says. ‘Do I like electric cars? No. The electric drivetrain is absolutely perfect, but the way the energy is stored – forget it. I think it’s super-cool that Porsche is looking at synthetic fuel, because that will save the sports cars. The exclusive cars are used so little that the environmental impact is nothing. Ferry Porsche said 100 years ago that the last car that will ever be built will be a sports car, and I believe he’s still right.’
