Recent spy shots have shown Porsche is finally building a new off-road-focused 911 Safari based on the 992-generation Carrera. But some aftermarket tuners couldn't wait for Porsche to build a new rally-inspired 911, so they created their own. Renowned for its stunning Porsche 911 restomods, Singer unveiled its new rally-ready Porsche 911 dubbed the All-Terrain Competition Study earlier this year.
Marc Philipp Gemballa, the son of Uwe Gemballa, is also building a rally-ready Porsche 911 under his new company Marc Philipp Gemballa GmbH. Codenamed Project Sandbox, the project was previewed in render designs last month, but leaked photos give us our first proper look at the new custom Porsche 911 off-roader.
Judging from the photo, development appears to be at an advanced stage. Based on the 992-gen Porsche 911, Project Sandbox is inspired by the legendary Porsche 959 that won the Paris-Dakar rally in 1986, but will still be road legal. The prominent hood vent suggests the build is based on the new 911 GT3, but it would make more sense to base an off-road 911 on the all-wheel-drive 911 Turbo S.
A custom body kit adds wider fenders and large side vents, but the most striking exterior enhancement is the 959-inspired rear wing. Additional photos show the reborn Porsche 959 fitted with chunky tires to improve the sports car's off-road capability, an aggressive motorsport-inspired rear diffuser, and a slim full-width light bar.
Whereas the new 911 Turbo S generates 640 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque from a 3.8-liter twin-turbo flat-six, Gemballa is teaming up with renowned Porsche specialist Ruf to increase the output to over 740 hp and 686 lb-ft of torque. Production of the launch edition is limited to just ten examples, and each one has already been sold. Gemballa will then build an additional 30 examples, but pricing details haven't been announced.
Alternatively, this could be the new 911 Safari Porsche has been caught testing in recent months. Either way, it hopefully won't be long until the covers officially come off this new rally-inspired Porsche 911.