Who’s down for a nearly 5,000-mile road trip to the Arctic Circle? Wait, hold that thought—who’s down for a rally from Germany to Norway’s North Cape in a 1978 Porsche 924? Sounds like a crazy plan but that’s what filmmaker David Zu Elfe and Jonas Steca successfully accomplished in a “rally” cool and modified 924.
The duo took the journey through 10 countries in 16 days as part of this year’s Baltic Sea Circle Winter endurance rally with 60 other cars before the coronavirus pandemic shut our planet down. The countries visited included Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. Oh, and they camped for 12 of those nights in temperatures that hovered near minus 22 degrees in a two-door 924.
“If you are determined enough lots of cars can go lots of places,” says Zu Elfe in a new short video series that documents his recent adventures in the Porsche 924.
The short series is titled “Only a Roadtrip Away” and is definitely worth a look—especially in episode three of five where we get a closer look at the rad rally car. If you’re considering buying a 924 for conversion—or simply to drive around—1978 models and earlier are a good place to start, the hosts say, since the car was originally developed as a joint venture between Porsche and Volkswagen and at that point contained many VW parts that are easier to replace.
Before the road trip, Zu Elfe’s former daily driver received a rebuilt 2.0-liter inline-four engine good for 125 horsepower. The sweet Audi-sourced engine is mated to a five-speed manual transmission with power going to the rear wheels via an open differential.
The car was lifted about 1.6 inches in the front and back and fitted with Nokian R3 non-studded snow tires with big mud flaps all around. A custom roof rack holds a full-size spare tire, gas can, Maxtrax, an axe, and four Comet 500 Hella lights that provide 500 watts to illuminate the unbeaten path ahead. Inside, the Porsche Overland Project remains mostly stock except for a few important conversions for camping and off-the-grid duty. The 32-year-old sports car was fitted with a new battery, a kill switch, Bluetooth, and a CB radio for starters. Surprisingly, the car can sleep two people in its modified rear hatch by moving the seats forward, lowering the rear bench, setting up a platform over the rear seat and footwells, and adjusting a mattress.
There are straps and flaps added to open the rear hatch to turn it into an erstwhile pop-top, plus a heater in the original well for the spare tire. It all looks a bit snug, but it is definitely functional, and this 924 will certainly take you out where finding open spaces won’t be a problem. The only problem the team encountered during its journey was a ripped timing belt after a decent run through a riverbed. Not bad at all. Check out the short series for plenty of ideas should you want to head out on next year’s exciting run. And for even more info, head to superlative-adventure.com.
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