Earlier this year Ken Block, the Head Hoonigan, competed in the East Africa Safari Rally in a Tuthill-prepped Porsche 911. This custom competition build is based on a 1978 Porsche 911 SC 3-liter, and it carried Ken and co-driver Alex Gelsomino for nine days of competition across 5,000 kilometers. This is certainly a cool-looking machine that pays homage to historic Porsche rally cars of decades gone by, but brings modern construction and componentry to the table. That 3-liter now makes some 280 horsepower in ready-to-rally spec, and the five-speed gearbox has been fitted with a limited slip. Obviously the suspension is the big talking point here, as it consists of extra-tall EXE-TC 5-way adjustable dampers, while the suspension components have been strengthened to stand up to the rigors of rallying, and a safari specification steering rack has been fitted. On top of all that, Ken worked with artist “It’s A Living” to develop a special livery wrap. This car remains road legal and is registered for use in the UK.
As it so happens, now that Ken has completed the rally, the car is up for sale in as-raced condition. Everything is still functional, and the car was not wrecked in the process of the race. Of course it’s still full of African dirt all over the interior and exterior, so you can say it’s among the most authentic Safari cars in the world, because it actually ran in the Safari rally. It’s got proper Braid wheels wrapped in Dunlop rally tires, so you might want to swap those out if you were going to actually drive this on the street. Rally tires tend to be really loud on pavement, ask me how I know. Also, if you were to drive this on the street, I can’t recommend enough that you get a helmet, because the car is fitted with a full competition roll cage, and that kind of thing could really crack your melon open in a street jostle.
This machine is now being offered for sale through online auction house Collecting Cars. Bidding is currently at a mere 20,250 british pounds, but you can bet the final hammer price will be several orders of magnitude higher. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a well-sorted Tuthill build with semi-celebrity race-used history sell for well into the six figures. Based on the build sheet, the car uses only the highest quality components, and features some intensely competition-focused pieces. You could easily take this to compete in any classic rally around the world, or simply bring it to your next local rallycross to stunt on fools. If this were mine, I’d run it for another couple of seasons of rally just for the heck of it, before making it my Saturday/Sunday car to drive to cars and coffee events and whatnot. How cool would it be to buy this car and road trip it to Pikes Peak to watch Ken drive his next far-crazier Porsche-911-based-competition-car up the hill next month.
The car currently needs nothing, as Tuthill claims there are no electrical or mechanical faults. The car obviously has some damage from a bit of intense driving, and some tape repairs have been made en route. But that’s all part of the car’s competition-earned patina. So, uh, go bid on it. Bidding ends mid-day on Sunday the 5th of June.
