Kalmar builds modern-day Porsche 911 ST for USA

In the – granted, oversaturated – market of Porsche 911 restomods, Danish builder Jan Kalmar manages to stand out. His 7-97 C1 is the modern take on the 911 ST the USA was unaware it needed. Until now.

The ‘7-97’ starts with Tom Kristensen. Denmark’s most successful racing driver – 9 Le Mans wins – was the first customer of Jan Kalmar’s aircooled 911 restomod. The car series – Kalmar does other Porsche conversions as well – was named in honour of Kristensen’s Le Mans palmares. In 1997, he won for the first time in the Joest-run TWR-Porsche WSC 95… carrying race number 7.

1970 ST

With the 7-97 series, Kalmar visually refers to the 1970 911 ST, the lightest ever 911 built by Porsche. The 911 ST weighed just 780 kilos, for 245 hp from a 2.4-litre six-cylinder engine. Gérard Larrousse drove a factory-entered 911 ST to third place in the 1970 Tour Auto in France, behind the Matra prototypes. It did without soundproofing material and had fibreglass door panels, bumpers and front wheelarches. Famously, metal parts were drilled to gain weight. Glass was replaced by plastic at the sides and at the rear. It was extreme.

993 4WD basis

The 7-97 C1 might seem less extreme at first glance, but that is only because Kalmar refuses to sacrifice usability. The 7-97s come with aircon, adaptive suspension and a sound system (features which can be deleted). In the case of the C1, a four-wheel drive 993-type 911 served as the base model. Knowing it would have weighed around 1400 kilos in standard trim, the Kalmar 7-97 C1 impresses with a weight of around 1215 kilos (2675 pounds). If you order it as a rear-wheel drive model, weight drops to just 1150 kilos (2500 pounds).

400 hp

The aircooled flat-six grows to 4-litre capacity. The crankshaft is taken from the 4-litre 997 GT3 model and is known for its high-revving character. Output is 400 hp and over 400 Nm of torque is available. It comes with a six-speed manual gearbox. Kalmar’s attention to detail come to light as you glance over the specifically created exhaust system, the individual throttle bodies (drive-by-wire activated) and the Motec M150 ECU.

USA only, with Bruce Canepa

Now for the bad news, if you don’t live in the USA. The 7-97 C1 was made at the demand of Kalmar’s North American distributor, California-based specialist Bruce Canepa. It also means the C1 is ‘USA only’. Price depends on specification. Kalmar builds just twelve 7-97 models per year, so supply is limited. The 7-97 C1 is available for viewing with Canepa Group in Scotts Valley (on appointment only).