Kamm describes the 912C as ‘an antidote to extreme hypercars’. After several hours spent exploring the back roads of Oxfordshire, I’m minded to agree. However, this particular brand of medicine isn’t a herbal remedy or soothing sedative; it’s a shot of neat adrenalin, plunged directly into a major artery. Less an antidote, then, more like a different drug.
Based near Budapest, Hungary, Kamm Manufaktur was founded by former film producer Miklós (Miki) Kázmér. Miki cut his teeth with modified Volkswagen Beetles, then made the natural progression to air-cooled Porsches. He idolised the 1967 911 R, a hens-teeth homologation special with a lightweight, less-is-more ethos, and resolved to build his own restomod tribute.
By chance, Miki borrowed a Porsche 912: a budget, four-cylinder version of the classic 911, sold between 1965 and 1969. “It felt better balanced and more cohesive to drive than an early, 2.0-litre 911,” he recalls. A 912 was also something different among the many flat-six restomods.
I first drove Kamm’s prototype Kamm 912C two years ago, discovering a sports car that was brutally raw and rousing. Now it’s time to sample a production 912C in Full Carbon spec, with numerous changes and some of those rough edges removed. Fill the syringe and find a vein. I’m ready.
Crafted from carbon
I meet Miki at Bicester Motion, the UK’s hub for all things classic motoring, where he proudly shows me around the waiting 912C. This car was commissioned by an artist, who has a matching carbon fibre road bike. The paint is bright Crystal Blue (a period Porsche colour) with an exposed carbon roof and pinstripes in real gold leaf. The word ‘NOW’ is emblazoned in gothic script on the engine lid
Mounted behind the rear axle, the original 1.6-litre engine is stretched to 2.0 litres and features a bespoke crankshaft, redesigned heads, a carbon fibre airbox, computer controlled throttle bodies and a titanium and Inconel exhaust. Maximum power is 182hp at 6,500rpm, with 180lb ft of torque from 4,500rpm.
That’s hardly hypercar territory, of course, but the 912C’s secret weapon is weight. In Full Carbon spec, it tips the scales at just 699kg with fluids. Opt for the Semi-Carbon model, which has its bonnet, front wings, door skins and engine cover built from the black stuff, and the grand total is 750kg. For context, Porsche’s new ‘lightweight’ 911 Carrera T coupe weighs 1,490kg.
Four cylinders of fury
In terms of price, the hypercar comparison seems rather more apt. Even without the gold trimmings, a Full Carbon car will cost you upwards of £350,000. Nonetheless, when you get up close and see the flawless quality of its construction, it’s clear where all the money went. In every sense, this 912C is a work of art.
Its engine bay is especially stunning. The once-humble ‘616’ motor is presented to show car standard; even the air-cooling fan blades have been remade in glossy carbon fibre. Detail improvements over the prototype are myriad. Where before a leather strap held the engine lid open, for instance, now there is a small carbon strut. Kamm has been hiring staff from the likes of Singer Vehicle Design, Koenigsegg and the Aston Martin Valkyrie project – and it shows.
Inside, the 912C features new reclining bucket seats from Fusina, an Italian company that supplied Porsche in the 1960s, along with crisp, white-on-black dials made by Smiths. Miki points out the air conditioning system with its custom vents in the dashboard rail and the wireless phone charger. It now feels less like a refugee from the racetrack.
Inside the Kamm 912C
I climb aboard. Those retro, houndstooth-trimmed seats don’t just look fantastic; they’re also very snug and supportive. In the interests of saving vital grams, the door cards are hollowed out like a 911 R, with spindly straps to unlatch them. The windows are also made of Lexan plastic and the rear seats use individual pads instead of a full-width backrest. It’s all artfully minimalist.
The wooden Momo steering wheel is the only component that Kamm deliberately didn’t restore and it feels gorgeously tactile. It sits above an AP Racing pedal box – offset to the right on this left-hand-drive car – and a short gearlever with an exposed linkage.
Twist the tiny key and the flat-four churns to life with a gravelly growl that’s part-Beetle, part-Subaru Impreza. It’s less sonorous than a 911, yet equally characterful, a waspish snarl that deepens and intensifies as the red needle sweeps towards its 6,800rpm limiter. Pulling a toggle marked ‘DMC’ (Drive Me Crazy) sharpens the throttle response and delivers naughty over-run pops from the twin tailpipes.
Proving less can be more
Kamm hasn’t published a 0-62mph time for the 912C, but it could be outdragged from the lights by a Tesla Model 3 or numerous other showroom-fresh EVs. Does that matter? If your answer is ‘yes’, you are probably reading the wrong review. Personally – and speaking as a journalist who is spoiled by access to fast cars – I love being able to wring out every rev without inevitably passing the square marked ‘Go to Jail’.
The little Porsche feels right-sized for British roads, too. Later models such as the 930 Turbo had wider hips, and the 911 has grown exponentially in recent years, but the 912 takes up less tarmac than a current Cayman. On the secluded lanes of Oxfordshire, with their overgrown verges and high hedges, I could maintain momentum where a Lamborghini Revuelto, for example, would be edging nervously past oncoming SUVs. As any motorcyclist will tell you, having more road space to play with feels instantly liberating.
You’re always aware of the Kamm’s lightness, too. It’s there in the engine’s punchy mid-range response, which is at odds with the peaky delivery you might expect. It’s there in the unassisted steering and unservoed brakes, which provide an unfiltered connection to the car. It’s there in the mid-corner balance: more precise and less tail-happy than an early 911. And it’s there in the ride: best with the dampers in their softest setting, but lithe and fluid in the way only a truly light car can be.
New 912T takes it easier
The 912C isn’t perfect. Its brakes are tricky to modulate at first and I found the five-speed gearbox, with first on a dog-leg like a racing car, to be notchy and hard work.
It’s also worth saying that, while far more polished than the prototype I drove in 2023, this is still a car that demands all of your attention. It’s a more single-minded and intense proposition than most of the 911-based restomods vying for a place in your lottery-win garage.
Still, Miki wouldn’t have it any other way. And if you want a more easygoing alternative, Kamm offers the new 912T. With a 163hp engine, more supple suspension and a quieter exhaust – plus a lower starting price of £214,000 plus a donor car – it’s designed to be ‘thrilling to drive hard one moment’, then allow its owner to ‘relax and enjoy the journey the next’.
Verdict: Kamm 912C Full Carbon
Needing an antidote to extreme hypercars is perhaps the very definition of a first-world problem. However, if you are in that privileged position, the Kamm could be just what you are searching for.
Before I leave, Miki hands me a copy of the 912C brochure to take home. Colin Chapman’s ‘Simplify, then add lightness’ quote takes pride of place on the front cover. That famous philosophy might have been forgotten in Hethel, but it lives on in Budapest. Long may that continue.
Tim Pitt writes for Motoring Research
