I first encountered Kelly Moss Road and Race at a PCA event in Pooler, Georgia. I was still working for Autometrics Motorsports at the time and we were sharing track time with a number of other cars. I was in still in my twenties, bright eyed and full of wonder. When the guys and I heard that Kelly Moss had brought a fully carbon fiber chassis, Porsche 996 RSR with an unrestricted engine, the temptation was too much to ignore. We immediately ran over to check it out.
This was during the import racing craze that predates the Fast and the Furious franchise, so we were totally geeking out at the raw, unpainted carbon chassis. It was completely naked short of a set of track numbers and a big “Kelly Moss” logo across the windshield. It looked like some kind of top secret, black ops dream machine. This car was (what I would learn through many track events with KM) par for the course for Kelly Moss; a company instilled with a rich sense of imagination and the skills to follow back up their crazy ideas. One such car is this Safari. A seemingly tame build with tons of work hidden beneath its surface.
Their latest creation is a 1984 911 3.2 Carrera appropriately named: Willy. The amount of work that has gone into the is creation is absolutely insane! No bolt unturned, no panel untouched, even a full rotisserie strip down and rebuild … let’s just say, that this a basically a brand new car.
The team has done a wonderful job of making the car look as if it’s just a factory chassis with a bit of lift and knobby tires. This however, couldn’t be farther from the truth. The details have been so meticulously blended in place, that it would take even the most discerning Porsche aficionado a second car to compare it to, to even begin spotting the changes.
After stripping Willy down to its bare chassis, the crew at Kelly Moss went to work cutting, welding and repositioning panels to accommodate the various bits and bobs necessary to allow the little 911 to attack the dirt with the same tenacity as their track cars.
The wheel wells were opened up and the flares were expanded and shifted on the shell before being re-welded and painted to look factory again. The extra room created space for larger diameter tires and greater steering angles while getting slideways in the dirt.
The tub and bodywork remains factory steel with the exception of the carbon/kevlar roof panel. Despite reusing most of the stock panels, Willy comes in at a svelte 2500 lbs. In a time where cars are bordering morbid obesity, this is quite a feat. Especially when paired with an KMR built 3.4l churning out a respectable 340 hp. The added power helps to spin a set of BFGoodrich KO2’s in LT245/65R17 flavor (approximately 29.5” in diameter). The custom suspension allows for 11” travel in the front and 10” at the rear this thing must be an absolute weapon off road!
In order to slow things back down, a set of 6 and 4 piston Brembo calipers and a Tilton master cylinder replaced the factory bits. There is also a bias adjuster to control clamping force between the front and brakes.
Willy is an absolute beast of a Safari. It is a very well thought out and detailed build that benefits greatly from the collective experience of the Kelly Moss team. Having built Porsche race cars for 8 years, I can respect the amount of planning and preparation a project like this takes. Kudos to Kelly Moss for making it happen.
To learn more about this build and others, or to have one built for yourself, visit www.kellymoss.com
Images courtesy of Kelly Moss
Photographers: Chris Bacarella & Marshall Farthin
