Images courtesy of Kelly Moss
Photographers: Chris Bacarella & Marshall Farthing
I first encountered Kelly Moss Road and Race at a PCA event in Pooler, Georgia. I was still working for Autometrics Motorsports at the time and we were sharing track time with a number of other cars. I was in still in my twenties, bright eyed and full of wonder. When the guys and I heard that Kelly Moss had brought a fully carbon fiber chassis, Porsche 996 RSR with an unrestricted engine, the temptation was too much to ignore. We immediately ran over to check it out.
This was during the import racing craze that predates the Fast and the Furious franchise, so we were totally geeking out at the raw, unpainted carbon chassis. It was completely naked short of a set of track numbers and a big “Kelly Moss” logo across the windshield. It looked like some kind of top secret, black ops dream machine. This car was (what I would learn through many track events with KM) par for the course for Kelly Moss; a company instilled with a rich sense of imagination and the skills to follow back up their crazy ideas. One such car is this Safari. A seemingly tame build with tons of work hidden beneath its surface.
Their latest creation is a 1984 911 3.2 Carrera appropriately named: Willy. The amount of work that has gone into the is creation is absolutely insane! No bolt unturned, no panel untouched, even a full rotisserie strip down and rebuild … let’s just say, that this a basically a brand new car.
The team has done a wonderful job of making the car look as if it’s just a factory chassis with a bit of lift and knobby tires. This however, couldn’t be farther from the truth. The details have been so meticulously blended in place, that it would take even the most discerning Porsche aficionado a second car to compare it to, to even begin spotting the changes.
After stripping Willy down to its bare chassis, the crew at Kelly Moss went to work cutting, welding and repositioning panels to accommodate the various bits and bobs necessary to allow the little 911 to attack the dirt with the same tenacity as their track cars.
The wheel wells were opened up and the flares were expanded and shifted on the shell before being re-welded and painted to look factory again. The extra room created space for larger diameter tires and greater steering angles while getting slideways in the dirt.
The tub and bodywork remains factory steel with the exception of the carbon/kevlar roof panel. Despite reusing most of the stock panels, Willy comes in at a svelte 2500 lbs. In a time where cars are bordering morbid obesity, this is quite a feat. Especially when paired with an KMR built 3.4l churning out a respectable 340 hp. The added power helps to spin a set of BFGoodrich KO2’s in LT245/65R17 flavor (approximately 29.5” in diameter). The custom suspension allows for 11” travel in the front and 10” at the rear this thing must be an absolute weapon off road!
In order to slow things back down, a set of 6 and 4 piston Brembo calipers and a Tilton master cylinder replaced the factory bits. There is also a bias adjuster to control clamping force between the front and brakes.
Willy is an absolute beast of a Safari. It is a very well thought out and detailed build that benefits greatly from the collective experience of the Kelly Moss team. Having built Porsche race cars for 8 years, I can respect the amount of planning and preparation a project like this takes. Kudos to Kelly Moss for making it happen.
To learn more about this build and others, or to have one built for yourself, visit www.kellymoss.com
1984 Willy Safari Spec Sheet
Kelly-Moss (KMR) modified stock aluminum front bumper and custom aluminum lower valance
30” Black Oak LED curved light bar in the front bumper, 30” curved rear light bar tied into reverse lamp circuit, and 40” combo spot / flood curved light bar roof mounted
9eleven LED headlamps with DRL’s and integrated turn signals
Hella Rallye horns
17”x7” Braid Fuch’s replica wheels
LT245/65/R17 BFGoodrich All-Terrain KO2 tires
6 piston front and 4 piston rear Brembo brakes
Dual Tilton brake master cylinder with adjustable brake bias
Exe-Tc adjustable, inverted twin tube gravel dampers
Eibach springs (paired with dampers, 11” travel up front with 10” in the rear)
KMR reinforced front lower control arms featuring 18mm ball joints
Elephant Racing suspension bushings
Fuel Safe 17 gallon fuel cell
Odyssey battery relocated into the smugglers box
RS style door panels and carpet
Recaro Leather seats
KMR seat mounts and anchors to lower the driver and passenger 3”
MoTeC C127 digital dash display with back up camera illumination on dash
MoTeC PDM (Power Distribution Module) to eliminate all fuses and relays
MoTeC keypad for operation of all electronics
KSV Loom custom chassis and engine wiring harnesses
Porsche Classic GPS radio
JL Audio amplifier
Focal speakers
KMR Custom Carbon/Kevlar roof
Momo Prototipo steering wheel
KMR custom full roll cage extending into front chassis for structural reinforcement
Roof rack mounted to halo in roll cage to handle heavy loads
Seam welding and chassis reinforcement
KMR built 3.4L engine: 340hp
Jenvey electronic fuel injection
Porsche smart coils
Mahle high compression Pistons and cylinders
Custom ground camshafts for low end torque
MoTeC engine management – tuned by KMR
BBE headers with a 991 Cup high flow muffler
Twin Setrab oil coolers
185a custom built Alternator (stock is 90a)
BRM built 915 Gearbox
7/31 ring and pinion
Short gear ratios (1-5)
Guard billet LSD differential
Wevo shift gate conversion
G50 axle conversion
MoTeC backup / rear view camera integrated next to rear lightbar
KMR fender liners and mud flaps
Complete rotisserie body/chassis restoration, including many custom project specific touches along the way.
Removal of all unnecessary mounting tabs, brackets, mounting holes, etc.
Complete smoothing of dashboard, removing all knobs, switches, and levers that are now integrated into the PDM & Keypad, including eliminating the glove box door.
KMR custom hand formed front and rear flares for larger circumference wheel/tire package.
All steel construction body panels with exception of KMR carbon/kevlar roof panel
2 ¾” larger wheel well opening – maintaining radius to look unmodified
5” removed from front inner wheel well opening on the chassis side to aid in steering lock (side to side) clearance
Paint: Complete 360 degree repaint, starting with stripping to bare metal, coating with metal prep solution, epoxy primer, followed by finish bodywork, another coat of epoxy primer, interior (rollbar tubes, floor, dash & ceiling) finished with semi-gloss black, high build filler primer applied to exterior then block sanded by hand, then sealed with color matched urethane sealer.
The color was brought to life with a custom color waterborne metallic gray base coat, 3 coats of high gloss / high solids clear coat flat sanded by hand and finished off with 2 coats of satin / matte clear