This transaxle Porsche was made to hit the waves.
Poland’s Baltic coast might not be the first place you’d think of when it comes to surfing. Still, a passionate surfing community resides on the country’s Hel peninsula, where a father and son have built a thriving watersports business and campsite and a community around it. The Chałupy 6 campsite is managed by Tadeusz Elwart, whose father introduced him to the wonderful world of Porsche.
Because of the father-son duo’s shared love for Porsche and the growth of their Hel Riders festival, the idea of the unique Porsche 928 ‘Surfari’ was born. The car needed to be off-road capable and get surfers right to the beach as soon as big waves start showing up, and the Porsche 928, a transaxle modern classic, was the perfect candidate for the project. Its V8 power imbued it with supercar-level performance in its day, and its design also made it a practical, usable sports car.
However, turning the 928 into a beach buggy involved challenges, including adapting the gearbox, suspension, and differential to make it off-road ready. Tomasz Staniszewski, an engineer who raced the Classic Dakar Rally in his own Porsche 924, rose to the occasion and worked with twin brothers Lange and Lange, who styled the car, to create the Porsche 928 ‘Surfari.’
After debuting at the Hel Riders Festival, the 928 ‘Surfari’ embarked on a road trip to the Petro-Surf air-cooled Porsche festival in Sylt, Germany, and then to Rømø in Denmark. With surfing in its soul, the Porsche 928 became an artifact of an incredible surfing subculture as the Porsche 928 ‘Surfari.’
Image Source: Porsche