Kalmar says that this 997-based RS-7 is the last safari-spec Porsche 911 that it can build

Remember the RS-6? No, not that one. The Kalmar Automotive RS-6 was a modified 996-gen Porsche 911 that the Danish firm revealed to the world at the start of 2024. Think of it as a budget Porsche 911 Dakar with conversions costing €45,000.

But what if you want something a little… newer? Well, say hello to the new RS-7. And no, we don’t mean that one. As you might have guessed, the RS-7 is Kalmar’s rally-ready take on the 997. Looks excellent, doesn’t it? Particularly with that LED light pod stuck on its nose. 

Oh, and it’s probably worth pointing out here that this is the most modern safari conversion that Kalmar’s offshoot brand ‘Beyond Adventure’ will be able to undertake. That’s because the 997 was the last 911 to get a full steel chassis. The complex glued and bonded aluminium and steel chassis of the 991 and 992 would make things far too tricky.

“It must be possible to fix a safari car with a hammer and a welder when you are somewhere in the middle of nowhere, and many race teams running the newer versions have learned the nice stiff chassis cracks easily with even with relatively small impacts,” says Jan Kalmar himself.

Anyway, that means the firm has gone all out with this car. You’ll have spotted the larger front air intakes, the giant arch extensions that allow for bigger off-road tyres and the ducktail spoiler round the back. We’re told those bits are made from a lightweight Kevlar composite. There’s a new exhaust too, and Kalmar has opened up the rear of the car to allow more heat to escape.

Underneath you get full aluminium underbody protection, additional bracing and extended shock absorbers with dropped subframes for higher ground clearance. And that clearance can be further increased to a maximum of 210mm thanks to the RS-7’s fully active suspension. Developed in collaboration with TracTive Suspension, the new system gets adaptive dampers and hydraulic ride height adjustment, while the anti-roll bars are removed for maximum independent wheel articulation.

There’s a new limited slip rear diff too, and Kalmar promises to up the power output of your donor car’s flat-six if you so desire. Oh, and we’re told that thanks to a “fastidious approach to weight reduction”, the end product is only slightly heavier than a standard 997 despite the body armour.

The colourful car you see above is the first one to be delivered to a customer, with Recaro CS seats retrimmed in Porsche’s Pepita houndstooth fabric. The sound system and navigation were removed to save weight too, being replaced with a simple Bluetooth speaker and a display for the suspension adjustment and maps.

Like the idea of your own off-road 997? Kalmar says that conversions start at €99,997, but you’ll have to provide your own donor car.