Wednesday 11 December 2024 10:02 am | Updated: Monday 09 December 2024 5:08 pm

Kalmar 9X9 review: Exclusive drive of new Porsche-based hypercar

Britain’s best-selling car in 1986 was the fourth-generation Ford Escort. In aptly named Popular spec, it had a 50hp 1.1-litre engine that could wheeze to 62mph in 18.2 seconds and nudge 90mph. The Escort brochure boasted of plastic head restraints, a lidded glovebox and ‘door panels with the unexpected luxury of cloth inserts’.

Meanwhile, on another planet, Porsche had just launched the 959. It had a 450hp 2.8-litre motor with sequential twin turbochargers, delivering 0-62mph in 3.7 seconds and a top speed of 198mph. Standard kit included adaptive four-wheel drive, active suspension with adjustable ride height, magnesium centre-lock wheels, a tyre pressure monitoring system and a snow mode.

Arriving late and hugely over budget, the 959 almost bankrupted Porsche at a time when it was struggling with slow sales and a poor exchange rate against the US dollar. Only 292 examples were sold and it would be 18 years before Stuttgart built another supercar. Today, the 959 is rightly recognised as automotive royalty and you’ll need north of £1.5 million for a good one.

Paying tribute to the 959

Alternatively, you could spend a similar sum on this. The Kalmar 9X9 is an extreme restomod that combines retro styling with fiercely modern performance. No prizes for guessing the car that inspired it, either. “The Porsche 959 was so ahead of its time, it was like a laboratory on wheels,” says Danish-born company founder Jan Kalmar. “Our car pays tribute to the 959, while bringing its technologies up to date.”

Jan worked as an official Porsche test driver before deciding to go it alone. One half of his business, Kalmar Adventure, organises adventurous road trips in modified Porsches, from drifting on Arctic ice to a desert safari across Africa. The other half is Kalmar Automotive, which builds around 12 of its 911-based ‘7-97’ restomods each year – including Dakar-style RS-R and electric E-Volt versions.

Nonetheless, when Jan displayed a 7-97 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and heard spectators mistaking it for a Singer, he resolved to try something different. The result is the 9×9, revealed at Monterey Car Week in August and due to commence production in 2025.

Turbo, Sport or Leichtbau

The starting point for a 9X9 is the shell of a 1994-1998 (993-generation) Porsche 911, which is extended by 45mm, then clothed in carbon fibre composite panels. In ‘Turbo’ guise, as tested here, the body is married to the drivetrain from a new (992-generation) 911 Turbo, including its PDK paddle-shift auto gearbox and four-wheel-drive system.

With improved airflow and cooling, ceramic turbocharger bearings and an Inconel exhaust, the 3.8-litre engine develops a stonking 930hp. And with just 1,410kg to shift – 230kg less than a 992 Turbo – that means 0-62mph in 2.0 seconds and a top speed of 211mph. Jan also estimates a Nürburgring lap time of around 6min 45sec: level-pegging with the latest 911 GT3 RS. Frankly, a classic 959 wouldn’t come close.

Kalmar also offers two alternative specifications. The Sport has a 650hp version of the 3.0-litre turbocharged engine from a current 911 Carrera, stiffer suspension and the option of a manual transmission. And the Leichtbau comes with a 4.0-litre naturally aspirated motor from the 992 GT3, rear-wheel drive, an optional stick shift and a kerb weight of only 1,275kg.

Inside the Kalmar 9X9

If the 959 resembles a 911 with its edges sandpapered smooth, this car looks much more aggressive. Its bonnet nostrils, wheelarch vents and brutal rear diffuser help to generate 157kg of downforce at 81mph. The hard-worked 9X9 prototype rides on conventional alloy wheels (19 inches at the front, 20s at the rear), but customer cars will have magnesium rims like the original Porsche.

Dropping down into a carbon fibre Recaro seat, the 9X9’s simple dashboard is clearly 993-derived, while much of its switchgear comes from the newer 992. There are no glaring touchscreens, just an analogue rev counter flanked by two modest digital displays. The ambiance feels plush but pared-back, without the showiness of some restomods. “Just drive me”, it seems to say.

As I fire up the flat-six outside DK Engineering – sole UK agent for the 9X9 – the rain is lashing down and several roads nearby have flooded. If Jan wants an appropriate test for his “everyday hypercar”, the British weather is happy to oblige.

Thankfully, the 9X9 proves no harder to drive than a new 911 Turbo, with sure-footed traction and smooth shifts from its dual-clutch transmission. Pottering through town, its compact dimensions and rear-axle steering make manoeuvring easy, while the 992’s electronic traction and stability systems provide welcome reassurance when I finally reach a dual carriageway and let 930 horses off the reins.

Blast like the past

Wow, this thing is quick! With furious whoosh from its twin turbochargers, the 9X9 piles on speed at a brain-scrambling rate. It’s immersive and intense: a level of performance that only true exotica (and the very fastest EVs) can compete with. The precise, rapid-fire PDK ’box also suits the Turbo’s character, letting me keep both hands on the wheel and focus on the road. It’s sacrilege to say it, but a manual might feel like a distraction here.

With double wishbones and pushrods up front (“like a pure race car”), the 9X9 feels eager and athletic, with nuanced steering and a sense of malleable poise. Driver-adjustable TracTive shock absorbers resist body-roll when cornering and also deliver a supple ride in their softer settings. My only gripe was with brakes – carbon-ceramic discs gripped by innovative 3D-printed titanium calipers – which felt either on or off. Jan says customer cars will have a different master cylinder for a more progressive pedal: “Racing drivers love this setup, but it isn’t so well suited to the road.”

Back in the late 1980s, my maths teacher drove an Escort Popular, but it was a 959 that I doodled in the back of my text book. Arguably, this Porsche was the original “everyday hypercar”, although few would want to daily-drive one now. That’s where the Kalmar comes in, offering a more powerful and polished version of the 959 for today’s audience. If only I’d paid more attention in maths, perhaps I could afford one of each.