Kalmar Automotive is a Danish company that specializes in restomodding Porsche 911s, particularly the 993 generation. It entered the U.S. earlier this year with help from California's Canepa, starting with a single model, the 7-97 Classic.
Now Kalmar has revealed a more adventurous build that looks to channel the Porsche 959. Called the Kalmar 9X9, the car made its debut on Friday at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, one of the premier events of the recent 2024 Monterey Car Week.
The 9X9 is offered in three guises. The standard 9X9 is the most powerful. It's designed for grand touring and comes with a turbocharged 3.8-liter flat-6 delivering 930 hp. It also comes with a dual-clutch automatic transmission and all-wheel-drive.
For track driving, there's a Sport version that uses a turbocharged 3.0-liter flat-6 tuned to deliver 650 hp. This version also has all-wheel drive but skips the dual-clutch automatic in favor of a manual transmission. The Sport is lighter than the standard 9X9, and its suspension is tuned more for carving up a track than for grand touring.
Kalmar 9X9
The third version is the Leichtbau, German for “lightweight construction.” This version is the lightest of the three, and features a 4.0-liter flat-6 that's naturally aspirated. The engine makes 530 hp and is mated to a manual transmission, and here drive is to the rear wheels only. The claimed weight is only 2,811 pounds.
Each of the 9X9 versions starts off as a 993-generation 911. The cars are stripped down and given a roll cage (in this case hidden), plus various chassis modifications including bespoke suspension developed by Italy's Danisi Engineering. The brakes are also a custom setup developed by CarboBrake, and include titanium calipers built using 3D printing.
Kalmar 9X9
Kalmar hasn't provided any performance specifications but said the body work can create close to 3,200 pounds of downforce at the peak, and simulations indicate a Nürburgring lap time of about seven minutes.
Kalmar only builds a handful of cars each year, and since each is made to a customer's individual specifications, each Kalmar is a true one-off design. The company is taking orders for its 9X9 and said the first examples will be delivered in mid-2025. U.S. orders can be placed through Canepa, a company that incidentally specializes in the sale, restoration, and customization of the Porsche 959.
