Air-cooled across the Andes
Nine safari-spec Porsche 911s have just completed a 39-day odyssey across the Andes from Lima in Peru to Ushaia, Argentina.
Covering 6,800 miles the cars competed in the Kalmar Beyond Adventure Trans-Andes rally with drivers from the USA, Germany, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao, the UK, Netherlands, Mexico, Australia and Denmark all taking part in a truly epic drive that passed through Bolivia and Chile en-route to the southernmost tip of South America.
The cars were all specially-assembled by Kalmar Automotive, and were a mix of 964 and 993-era models, with lifted suspension, all-terrain tyres, and roll cages. It’s a testament to the Danish company’s build skills that every car completed this arduous adventure. Several Porsche Cayenne support cars also went the distance.
“South America is home to some of the greatest ancient civilisations known to man, and when we set out to organise this adventure, it was important to us to make sure we could visit some of the greatest sites and experiences in the world, as well as driving the best roads, of course,” said Kalmar Automotive founder Jan Kalmar. “That’s the purpose of Kalmar Beyond Adventure, to take people to places they don’t think they can go in a car and, together with our Kalmar Automotive bespoke builds, give people a vehicle that is not only capable of tackling some of the most extreme and challenging off-road scenarios imaginable but one that is also supremely usable when it comes to handling regular, day-to-day driving.
“When we set out on this particular adventure, we pre-selected teams from previous adventures, knowing that they had what it took to take on the challenge, but also work together as a team. If we thought we knew each other before, well, we’re practically family now, and definitely friends for life!”
Porsche has harnessed the wind at the southernmost tip of the Americas to provide power for race and road cars of the future.