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Watch the Safari 911 do its thing off road

American racing driver Leh Keen spends his working hours in the No. 22 Alex Job Racing WeatherTech Porsche 911 GT America campaigning in the United SportsCar Championship. From the looks of this video, he spends his free time off-roading in a Porsche of his own specification: a 1981 Porsche 911 SC modded into an homage to the rallying 911s of the 1970s. Privateers began rallying the 911 not long after it went on sale 50 years ago, winning European events and the European Rally Championship as soon as 1967. After some good showings in the early 70s the carmaker took a 1978 911 SC to the Safari Rally in Africa going for the overall victory, but an encounter with a rock meant the team could only claim second place. Keen's Guards Red coupe channels that ancestor with a lift kit from Elephant Racing and a light rack and mud flaps shipped over from Europe. The engine gets a little more power thanks to intake modifications, some SSI heat exchangers, and a Danske exhaust. To help keep it together on the trail, the bumpers get pulled in and use steel bash bars for protection, and the side mirrors are aero numbers tucked into the A-pillar angle. The interior has been entirely redone. Keen apparently said "he wanted a 911 he could 'go anywhere' with," and the video above shows him doing just that. You can read more about the car in this month's Porsche Club of America magazine, check out Fatlace for the short story and a few pictures, or head to photographer Clint Davis' site for an eyefull of high-res shots of the beast. Related Video: News Source: PCAHQ via YouTube Porsche Coupe Luxury Off-Road Vehicles Performance Videos rally leh keen

Ford Mustang outsold Audi TT and Porsche 911 in Germany

Despite being the antithesis of the cars Germany is known for, the new Ford Mustang was the best selling sports car in the land of schnitzel and beer last month by a whisker. The Mustang beat out the Audi TT by 780 units to 708, and it beat Germany's best known performance car, the Porsche 911, 780 to 752. That makes some sense, right? The Mustang has to be cheaper than those competitors, right? Not really. Both the EcoBoost and V8-powered Mustang have higher starting prices than the equivalent TT. The 2.3-liter, EcoBoost-powered Mustang starts at 38,000 euros (around $43,300 at today's rates), while the front-drive Audi TT starts at 35,950 euros (about $41,000). The V8-powered Mustang GT, meanwhile, starts at 43,000 euros (about $49,000), which is just 2,550 euros more than the Quattro-equipped TT. When 310 horsepower or 435 hp can be had for just a couple thousand more than 220 hp, it's easy to understand the Mustang's success. The 911, of course, is a lot more expensive than the Mustang. You can buy two Mustang GTs for the price of a single Carrera. But Ford also managed to beat out the Porsche's smaller siblings, the Boxster and Cayman twins, which sold a combined 642 vehicles. Again, the pony car is significantly cheaper, but that doesn't do much to lessen the impact of the Mustang's victory. If you're in Germany and are concerned about this American invasion, you shouldn't be (yet). The TT is Germany's best-selling sports car from January through March, with 2,299 to the Ford's 1,823. Porsche is breathing down the pony car's neck, too, with 1,811 units in 2016. It'll be interesting to see if Ford's successful March carries on into the rest of 2016. Related Video:

Are you the next Porsche 911 GT3 RS or GT2?

Porsche typically keeps to a suitably fast schedule when it comes to rolling out increasingly hard-core performance versions of the 911. After the 997 Carrera debuted in 2004, the GT3 version followed in 2006, and by the end of the 2007, Porsche had rolled out both the GT3 RS and GT2 versions. Then the facelifted 997.5 came out in 2008 and it was back to the start: the GT3 came in 2009, the GT3 RS and GT2 RS in 2010, and the GT3 RS 4.0 in 2011. But things have slowed down some with the latest 991 generation.
The new Carrera came in 2011 and the GT3 followed in 2012. By recent history's example, we should have at least two more hardcore models by now, but we don't. Maybe the engineers in Zuffenhausen have had their hands full fixing the spontaneous-combustion issues with the existing GT3, or maybe their attentions have been focused elsewhere altogether. But if these spy shots are anything to go by, it seems like they're back on the job.
Now we don't know if this prototype foreshadows a new GT3 RS or a GT2, but it sure looks more hard-core than the existing GT3 that many purists have derided as too soft, what with its automatic transmission and four-wheel steering.