- Here’s a restomod Porsche based on the oft-overlooked 912.
- The appeal here isn’t huge power, but a feathery curb weight.
- It’s expensive, but you get a power-to-weight ratio close to a modern 911.
911? As Police Chief Clancy Wiggum once said, “You’ve got the wrong number, this is 91 . . . 2.” Launched in 1965 as the budget-friendly version of Porsche’s classic 2+2, the 912 was intended to paper over some of the gap left by the last of the four-cylinder 365s with which it shared a powerplant. Instead of a flat-six, it was powered by an air-cooled 1.6-liter four-cylinder boxer, which made around 100 horsepower. However, the car was very light, and it is now coming into its own as a collectible. And, as you might have expected, there’s also a company building a high-performance restomod version.
KAMManufaktur is a Hungarian company established a couple of years ago by Miklós Kázmér, a successful commercial and film director. Genesis came about almost accidentally, as Kázmér originally bought a 912 as a donor car for a 911 build, but fell in love with the four-cylinder’s underdog charms. Together with a team of engineering specialists, he founded a company and set about giving the 912 the love it deserved.
The firm’s creation is called the 912c, and that lower-case “c” stands for carbon fiber. A lot of carbon fiber. Just as the original 912 made the most of its modest power by being lighter and a bit better balanced than the 911, the 912c is unlike the big-bore restomodded Porsches made by other specialists. The now 2.0-liter flat-four is up in power, from 170 to just above 190 horsepower depending whether it’s running carburetors or fuel injected, but the big story with the 912c is that, according to the company’s claims, it weighs just 1650 pounds and has nearly perfect 50/50 weight distribution.
As the 912 turns 60 this year, KAMManufaktur is building a couple of motorsport-themed 912cs to celebrate the car’s somewhat overshadowed history. The first of them is painted red like the 1967 912 driven by Poland-born Porsche factory driver Sobiesław Zasada, who won his class in the European Rally Championship three times. The other car is yellow, and based on a 912 used in Swedish rallying in period. Both cars look fantastic, much more discreet than a 911 from Singer or Gunther Werks.
Less power, less weight, and less ostentation goes against the flow somewhat in 2025, but KAMManufaktur’s 912c looks extremely tempting. As the cars are low-production, buyers can slightly change the specification from a more track-oriented build with stiffer suspension to a more road-friendly experience. They’ve even built a targa version complete with roof rack and surfboard.
The cost for all this lightness is, unfortunately, somewhat weighty at over $400,000. Even so, perhaps this too is a long overdue tribute to the 912. For too long it was considered the poor cousin to the 911 or the “wrong” Porsche. That KAMManufaktur can build and sell such a desirable creation proves that the 912 was special all along.
Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.
Source: Motor - aranddriver.com
