It’s never been more difficult to identify oneself as a Porsche purist—among others, many of those who belong to this part of the community worship air-cooled 911s. And while Porsche stopped making those two and a half decades ago, these days the 993, the final iteration, has become the object of celebrity etiquette (the long list of Hollywood folks driving one ranges from Jerry Seinfeld to Kendall Jenner). Then there’s the virtual side of things, which sees the Internet coming up with rendering like this EV-swapped, jacked-up 993-gen Porsche 911 dubbed SOC (super off-road challenge).
The pixel project builds on two of the most popular 911 fetishes right now, namely full electrification and rough terrain prepping. These are topics the German carmaker itself is working on. For one, full electrification isn’t expected to happen until the next iteration of the Neunelfer arrives, even though the upcoming 992.2 mid-cycle revamp of the current car will bring a hybrid.
As for lifting operations, the Zuffenhuasen people have already tapped into their history of rear-engined rally cars, which spans from the air-cooled 911s of the 1960s to the 1980s, which saw the 959 getting the laurels at Paris Dakar. So, while Porsche built a 911 Safari concept a decade ago, a production model based on the present 992 has already been spotted testing in advanced form and should come to showrooms with the said 992.2 mid-cycle revamp.
A 993-generation Porsche 911 EV with Safari capabilities
Digital artist Hakosan Design had no reason to limit his ambitions for this project. So we ended up with a 993 Neunelfer that borrows its electric motivation from Extreme E racecars.
This is a global series that debuted last year (think of it as Formula E’s off-road sibling) and has drawn a multitude of famous names from multiple motorsport disciplines—teams comprised of a female and a male driver are tasked with handling 540 hp SUV-like racecars in remote locations across the world, with the series aiming at becoming carbon neutral, despite all the travel having raised eco-related questions.
Having gifted the 993 with the kind of wheels/tires and ground clearance that allow this to plunge into the wilderness, the digital artist masterfully rendered a widebody kit for the coupe. There are massive fenders featuring generous air channels and a carbon composite rear spoiler that reminds one of the infamous Whale Tail.
And since there’s no flat-six to occupy the rear end of the vehicle, the engine bay has been repurposed and now accommodates the full-size spare wheel required to continue the competition when things get rough.
Going past the racing-grade interior details, which you can discover in the images below, we’ll mention that the name of this contraption seems like a nod to the video games that were around in the days of the 993. That SOC (super off-road challenge) label present on the sides of the vehicle could be a reference to the Off Road arcade series Midway Games released back in the late 90s (Super Off Road X Off Road Challenge, anybody?).
PS: Need further proof of the popularity lifted 911s enjoy these days? Check out the second Instagram post below, which shows Ken Block testing his recent 911 off-road racing build over in Kenya—fret not, there’s a turbocharged boxer at the back of this 964-generation (predecessor of the 930) monster. This has been done in preparation for the East African Safari Classic Rally, which kicks off this Friday.
