Three Great Alternatives To The Porsche 911 Dakar

Russel Built Fab Porsche 911 Safari Sportsman

Russel Built Fabrication is a California-based company that specializes in reimagining classic Porsche 911s as all-terrain vehicles. The company started in the 2000s, by maintaining movie prop cars. Eventually, it evolved into a fully-fledged custom shop, dedicated to the iconic German sports car. Russel Fab’s latest creation is the 911 Safari Sportsman and it can best be described as a gentleman’s off-road 911. Similar to what Singer does with its lineup, the Safari Sportsman is based on a 964-generation Porsche 911. The company’s Baja 500-winning suspension kit allows for 10 inches of suspension travel, but that’s not all. Russel Fab lengthened the wheelbase by 2.0 inches.

Skid plates, bull bars, and rally lights are all part of the standard Safari treatment, along with a carbon-fiber roof rack that houses a spare tire. Speaking of tires, they are Toyo Open Country all-terrain pieces. From what we gathered from Russel Fab’s website, the Safari Sportsman is based on a 964 Turbo, which means it has a wide body. They don’t say if it’s the 3.3 or 3.6-liter variant. In this generation 911 Turbo, power is still sent to the rear axle, exclusively through a manual transmission. The Russel Fab Safari Sportsman kit for the 964 starts at $135,000, not counting the donor car. It’s still a bargain, given the 992 Dakar’s current value.

Porsche 911 Safari by Five Nine Design

The modern 911 offers a truly versatile platform as we’ve seen with the recent introduction of the first-ever hybrid production variant in the 992.2 GTS. That said, if you want a non-hybrid Porsche 992 off-roader that doesn’t wear Dakar’s steep price tag, Five Nine Design has the right kit for you. The company doesn’t work exclusively on Porsche sports cars, but they’ve carried out quite a few 991 and 992 Safari builds. The main highlight of the Five Nine Design Safari build is the Motion Control coil-over suspension, which increases the ground clearance to near-Dakar levels – around 7.5 inches (191 mm).

Skid plates, rally and cornering lights, and Toyo Open Country all-terrain tires, wrapped around 18-inch Rotiform wheels are only a part of the treatment. Mild performance modifications like new software, air-intakes, and exhaust, assure the 992 off-roader will make a bit more than the stock 992 Carrera’s advertised, 380 horsepower, which is apparently, underreported. Most importantly, the last time one of these Five Nine Design 992 Safari cars was auctioned off, it went under the hammer for just $138,000 – a fraction of the 992 Dakar’s price.

Elephant Racing Porsche 911 Safari

California-based Elephant Racing has been in the business of modifying Porsche sports cars since 2002. By offering a wide variety of suspension kits, the company is a leading supplier of safari suspension kits. Moreover, many of their Safari builds are based on the G-Body 911, even though the company also offers Safari kits for the 996 and 997 generations. Renowned motoring journalist, Matt Farah, is one of the many clients to order a G-body 911 Safari from Elephant Racing.

The Safari treatment features full skid plates all around, a four-inch suspension lift, Braid wheels, wrapped in off-road tires, and more. It’s hard to pinpoint the price of a Porsche 911 Safari, built by Elephant Racing since they all depend on the customer’s specific preferences. That said, Matt Farah’s 911 Safari was listed for $300,000 – a hefty sum, but still way less than what a 992 Dakar would set you back. It is even more affordable than what the Singer equivalent of a 911 Dakar would set you back. That and you are, essentially, getting the same generation 911, upon which the original Dakar was built.