FEATURE | Meet Jan Kalmar of KALMAR Automotive
At the start of July, I was invited to meet Jan Kalmar, the founder of a relatively new company that reimagines and re-engineers classic Porsche 911s into more focused, more fun, and purposeful drivers' cars.
Before the birth of the company, Kalmar kept a close eye on the new world of repurposed 911s. Intrigued by the companies that would later be his competitors and occasionally frustrated by their performance, Kalmar decided to see if he could do better with a team of like-minded individuals from a workshop in Estonia and launched Kalmar Automotive in 2021.
Jan has a strong engineering background and previously worked for Porsche, where he was a key engineer for models including the 918 Hypercar and 991-911. He is a proud Dane but bases his company in Estonia, where a factory and workshop are located inside a race circuit, ideal for tweaks and tests.
Our meeting place was DK Engineering in Rickmansworth, just outside the M25. Jan and I sat together in what's affectionately known as 'the green room', at a table surrounded by motoring memorabilia, artwork, and photographs. Through the green room's windows is a cobbled courtyard where two of Jan's creations sat proudly: the 7-97 RS-R EVO and the 7-97 E-Volt, which was about to make its international debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed just a few days later.
Before we even sat down for our chat, Jan set the scene perfectly by opening with a warning.
"Just to be warned, I will likely go off on a tangent. I'm most likely terrible for journalists because I say my opinion. The good thing is, if somebody complains about me, the complaint comes directly to me."
Before divulging the specifics of the cars and the company, I wanted to learn more about his background.
"It's all about cars. That's the only thing I do, the only thing I've ever done. I did some racing for a bit but had to stop in 2010 when I fell ill with a balance issue."
Jan went on to explain that the biggest drawback to the condition was the tendency to vomit in his own crash helmet, needing to opt for open-faced helmets to make the experience marginally more bearable.
"Have you ever tried to vomit with your eyes open? It's impossible! - 'doesn't make for a great driving experience either."
The racing career progressed to endurance racing, which saw Jan enter the Nurburgring 24-hour race five times. However, it came to a stop in 2010 following his illness. After ending his competition racing career, Kalmar needed a new challenge and set his sights on driving records.
"I decided I wanted to complete a driving record. I'm old enough to remember the Paris Dakar when it raced through Africa; I wanted to drive from the North Cape in Norway to Cape Agulhas in South Africa, the most southern point, and do it faster than anyone else. Then I realised another record existed, called the London to Cape Town record, so I said, 'I can go North Cape (Norway) to London, then London to Cape Town, and onto Cape Agulhas and collect both records, so I was like, 'I need to build a car for this.'"
And so, he did. With a group of friends and business partners, Jan got to work on sourcing a car fit for the adventure.
"I looked for the right car, and I couldn't find it, and now it gets a little bit pathetic in a way, so I had to build it myself. I bought a 2011 Cayenne diesel, a brand new car just when it came out, stripped it completely, and added a roll cage, a 230-litre fuel tank, and removed the centre and one of the rear seats. And so, you could sleep—'kind of'—in the back with a harness. And that was it. That was the first Porsche I ever built!"
As is often the way with aspirational adventures, politics got in the way and not long before the record attempt was due to begin, a war broke out that would force a change of plans.
"The Syrian war started, so there was no chance to go that way - that was a part of our route. So we said forget it, so we turned the map and drove from Brest in France from the Atlantic across Eurasia to the Pacific in Russia, which is the furthest East-West you can go in one direction. Then, we took the car from there to Vancouver Island and drove from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland. Then, we took it to Australia and drove around Australia. We did this non-stop driving and averaged 60 miles an hour across Eurasia from start to finish, with all stops with everything.
So, and then Syria looked like it's gonna take a long time, so we said okay, we drive to Istanbul, we fly the car from Istanbul to Tel Aviv, and then we stopped the car for the time it would have taken to drive that same distance. We discovered that a German team fully sponsored by VW was doing something similar but had an issue - they never said what happened, but something clearly did. It's hardly surprising because, wow, the sh*t we went through on that trip is worth the whole film in itself. We got held up by Boko Haram at one point, and then when we made it to Tanzania, we hit a zebra at more than 100mph, which caused a lot of damage to the car - (more so to the zebra)."
The damage from the bump with the zebra meant the car needed a serious fix. So once a complete repair had been carried out, it was time to do it all again.
"The following year, the Germans improved their record, and then there was no time to go via London, so we decided just to go north Cape to Cape Agulhas and beat the record. We still have the world record: 17,000 kilometres in under 9 days, so it was just like 'game on—full on'."
The final record set by Jan and his team was a distance of 17,495 kilometres in just 8 days, 21 hours and 3 minutes. They had set a new world record and consumed 1,949 litres of diesel in doing so.
The first 7-97 built for Tom Kristensen
The Birth of KALMAR
Once the record-breaking scratch had been itched, it was time to focus on a new venture, and Jan noticed that a new trend in classic car ownership and modification had started. He wanted to get in on the action.
"I noticed this hype of classic cars was starting, so I thought, okay, I'll buy 10 classic Porsches and restore them and sell them, and... it was really boring. You see, when a frog is born in a cow stable, it's still a frog, and when a car was developed in 1960, it's still an old piece of sh*t."
As you might have noticed, Jan doesn't mince his words. But this veritable approach to life, business, and challenges has resulted in some of the most beautiful and dedicated builds from him and the KALMAR team.
"I was so focused on originality, but annoyingly, every time I finished one of the cars, I realised they were terrible. I realised I could buy a Golf for £5,000, and it would be 10 times better. But there was this hype: everybody had money, and everybody needed a classic 911 because that was what they had on their wall at home when they were younger."
While caught in a conflict between wanting to build cars that matched customer demands and cars that matched his personal demands for quality, a chance encounter with nine-time Le Mans 24h winner Tom Kristensen at The Quail (Pebble Beach Concours) would trigger a new direction for KALMAR.
"I was standing with Tom Kristensen at Quail–at the Singer stand. Tom explained to me that he won his first Le Mans in a Porsche, and although he had an Audi tribute to his first Audi win and a Bentley in honour of his Bentley win, he didn't have the Porsche to signify the first win. He asked me, 'I'm missing a Porsche, can you build me something like this?' - to which I said, 'Oh please, buy the Singer, it'll be much easier'."
Tom didn't budge on his desire and wasn't the first person to ask Jan for his services either. A previous contact had already contacted Jan and, knowing his capabilities had asked about possibly having a custom 911 built.
"With Tom and one other friend having already asked for something similar, I was like, okay, now there are two who asked me to do it, I'm going to have to do it. So we did the 7-97, which these are all called. And they're called this because Tom won with Porsche in '97 with car number seven car. So that is the reason for the name. And I was so sure we would make two or three cars, really, because who wants to pay so much money for such a car??"
And just like that, the Kalmar 7-97 was born—well, almost. The first builds were underway, but it would have been quite some time before anyone knew about them. Jan was sensitive about showing the cars or even talking about them until they were ready to be seen.
"I said, I will not show anyone what we're doing until it is ready like McLaren did with the SLR and the MP4. We built our cars, showed them, and then boom, we received 12 more orders in three months. Now, it's very easy to make one car and two cars, but very difficult to make 12."
At this time, Jan had just 3 employees working out of a tiny workshop. He had purposefully chosen his workshop due to its location, in the centre of a 3-kilometre racetrack.
"We have access to the circuit about 300 days a year because there's very little going on. So it's absolutely fantastic. We run in the cars on the circuit. There is never salt on the track. If there's ice, f*ck it–we go on the ice, and we can clean the track if there's snow. So, that's really helpful. But then was the realisation of, 'Oh, this is fantastic, but oh man, we now need to build all these additional cars."
At this time, the Californian brand Singer was in full swing and was building a solid reputation globally thanks to its designs, finished products, and price tags.
"This is most likely where it gets controversial. Singer seemed to be this incredible brand. People would say, 'One day you might be lucky enough to see one, or even just be on the same continent as one'; that was the opinion of the brand at the time. I remember thinking, I was sure when they were driving, they were not touching the ground like hovering along above the ground... and then I saw one–And I was so happy. They were just normal, like us. With flaws."
Jan's biggest challenge was setting a price for his creations. He had to be cheaper than the Californians, but ideally, his cars would be better, too. Agreed prices continued to grow as conversations with buyers resulted in additional desires and aspirations for their individual cars.
Once his first car, based on a 964 chassis—just like the Singers—was complete, he took it out on the circuit to see how it drove.
"I drove the car and remember thinking, it's all tight. It's all new. It's all shifting. It has plenty of power... But it still drives like an old Beetle. And I was convinced that when Singer chose the 964 base car, there must be a reason; it must be the best. And then I had some 993s, and I thought - they drive better. What I set out to do was to build a car that looked like the one you had on the wall when you were young but didn't have all the problems they have."
Jan was at a point of no return. He had taken deposits and started building cars, but now he had concerns that they weren't going to be the best. To put his mind at rest, he did what he does best and went on a road trip.
"I took one of the cars on a seven-day, 7,000-kilometer, seven-country trip because I was like, 'I want to make sure this sh*t works'. I said to the team, 'I'll drive by myself. I want to be alone. I want to hear and feel this.' And they made a little toolbox for me. I said, 'What's this?' - 'This is a toolbox.' - 'When you put a toolbox there, you are convinced it's not going to last 7,000 kilometres in seven days and seven countries. Can you get that toolbox out, please?' - Because if we have not done the car right, then we have a problem, and then you will have a problem'."
And so, just like that, Jan Kalmar took his creation on a 7,000km road trip through seven countries for the ultimate shakedown—minus one toolbox.
"So off I went; I didn't have a single problem except the car was too loud. We fixed that when I came home. The car went 7,000 kilometres, from Estonia to Brands Hatch in England, to Monaco to f*cking everywhere. So, it got a big tick... but still, it drove like an old car."
While the trip was a success, Jan still had one critical point that was troubling him, and the only person he could consult was his chief engineer.
"When I got back, I sat down with my engineer to ask a question that had been in the back of my mind. I asked, ' Do you think we could put our body panels on a 993?' After four or five days, it was discovered that with a little bit of tweaking, a little bit here, a little bit there, we could do it. So we swapped to 993 chassis from this point."
And so, just like that, the final recipe was written. For the Kalmar 7-97, the only choice moving forward for the base car was the newer and crucially better 993 version of the Porsche 911 with better suspension components, a better and more robust chassis and a more comfortable and compliant ride. And so it was, all KALMAR 7-97s are based on the 993... well, except for the two models I had come to see. Both the E-Volt and the 7-97 RS-R EVO were built at a time when Jan believed the 964 suspension components were stronger - something he's now decided isn't the case.
"Things got real busy real quick, and the change to the new chassis was tricky because we had to re-engineer a lot of things. But we got through it and started delivering the cars."
And just like that, KALMAR Automotive was born. To date, the company has produced 26 cars, but that number is expected to grow significantly over the next few years. Jan wanted to demonstrate that the two cars he had brought to DK Engineering on the day, whilst not being the typical 993 chassis cars, were a perfect example of what the company can do in two very different variations.
"Our customers should feel like engineers, like designers. That's my hope. Any idiot can go out and buy a GT3RS, go into London, and say hi to the other five GT3RSs he meets on the way. We have said we'll build 12 7-97s per year; that's it."
Exclusivity is the key to 7-97 ownership, but not because of a desire to purposefully keep numbers low for the sake of marketing excitement. The company wants to focus on building a limited number of cars in the best way possible, to the best quality.
"I would rather, if we get super successful, drive the price through the roof and keep the exclusivity, we sign in the contract that we will never make an identical car. We have two, let's say, slogans or mottos or whatever you call it. One is 'Automotive Haute couture' - which is a bit posh, and you already know I'm not really posh. I'd rather keep us 'anti-posh'; I have to stop the marketing teams when they start writing their fancy words. We call a shovel a shovel and an idiot an idiot."
Jans's other statement is 'Modern Coachbuilding,' which perfectly explains what KALMAR Automotive does. It allows customers to tailor-make their own 7-97 to meet their desires, preferences, and specifications. I asked Jan if he would rather be thought of as a coach builder or an engineer.
"I'd rather be thought of as a coach builder than anything else at the moment, which perhaps brings a waive of liability. We are not manufacturers. Do I want to be called a tuner? Not really. Do I want to be called a resto-modder? Not really. So, with the utmost respect for craftmanship, coach builder is the best we can do."
The Cars
I was keen to learn more about the two cars Jan had brought along to DK Engineering. The 7-97 RS-R EVO looks representative of a 1970s rally Porsche with its raised ride height, roof rack, stripped interior, and fog lamps. The E-Volt couldn't be more different with its perfect paintwork, sleek fitted glass, low ride height, and perfectly trimmed interior. The two cars look absolutely sublime in their own individual way despite being polar opposites in design purposes.
First, I wanted to learn about the Rally car, the 7-97 RS-R EVO. Was it all for show, or was this car built for use?
"This car has done 28,000 kilometres through South America and Africa. It's been on its roof; it rolled in Patagonia, but we turned it over, checked it, and 45 minutes later, we went again. It's a customer car belonging to a German couple. She's 64, and he is 58, and they went on one trip with us in one of our rental rally cars, and then he said, 'Can you build me one?' It started off as a fairly typical build. Then the customer noticed we offered some carbon fibre parts; from there, he said to go absolutely crazy. And we did - this car's crazy–bonkers."
Bonkers is a fair analogy. The 7-97 RS-R EVO has a 4.1-litre engine that produces more torque than a GT3RS. The entire car is made of Kevlar, which is why when it rolled onto its roof in Patagonia, it could be rolled back onto its wheels and carry on almost immediately.
KALMAR Automotive | 7-97 RS EVO
Powertrain: 4.1L flat-six petrol (water heated / air cooled)
Power: 355hp+
Torque: 460Nm
Weight: 1,290kg
Price: From €450,000+ taxes
It's worth mentioning that this particular car, with its very unique 4.1L engine, is primarily a test rig. The production versions of the car will have a slightly more conventional 4-litre engine.
I took the 7-97 RS-R EVO out for a short drive around the local roads of DK Engineering through Chorleywood and Rickmansworth. I even completed my loop with a brief stint on the M25. The car feels, sounds and goes with purpose. The throttle bodies honk and chug in cold air at a vicious rate. There is a sound of anger from the rear of the car as the sounds of air intake fight with the sounds of the exhaust. The by-product of the angry sound is sheer unadulterated performance. The RS EVO, due to a lack of anti-roll bars on this particular model, pounces into the air under acceleration. I watched the bonnet rise as I put my foot to the floor and dive under braking like a Group B rally car would. It all feels safe, controllable and, above all, tuned.
Inside the car, it's surprisingly luxurious for a car capable of conquering a rally. A pair of reclining Recaro bucket seats hold the driver and passenger in place while providing access to the rear for storage and a fridge. The door cards, rather than being relocated to an Estonian landfill site, are still in place and beautifully trimmed with leather, as are the indicator and wiper switches. The inside of the car, despite being fit for purpose, is a relatively pleasant place to be. It's certainly not the quietest car I've driven on the M25, but that said, it would be very tolerable to live with on the long drives between adventure points.
The 7-79 RS-R EVO is a relatively extreme example of what Jan and his team at KALMAR Automotive can do, and my short drive was enough for me to realise that these were far more than pretty things destined for Instagram photoshoots outside Californian coffee shops.
Kalmar Automotive | 7-97 E-Volt
Powertrain: 100 kWh lithium-ion paired with EV Tesla Model S motors.
Power: 414hp+
Torque: 600Nm
EV Range: 220 Miles
Weight: 1,374kg
Price: From €450,000+ taxes
To see the other end of the creative and coach-built spectrum, I then looked at the 7-97 E-Volt. As you might expect, the story of its creation is nothing short of fantastic.
"I signed an agreement to build a 7-97. The customer was a Danish guy. He saw one of the 7-97s and said, 'I want one.' He signed the agreement and went home. But the next day, he phoned me and said he couldn't take it. I said, 'Why?' he said it was because his wife and daughter didn't want him to buy another combustion car ever again. I initially suggested that he get a new wife and daughter, but we agreed that would be too expensive."
Rather than lose a sale and a build, Jan decided it was time to consider an alternative approach. And suggested building an EV for the customer instead. I asked if EV 7-97s were ever on the radar?
"No, no, they were not. I don't believe in it; I think now the market has shown that it's all fake and bollocks. But I wanted to do this properly. It was not enough in the KALMAR philosophy to stick in an electric motor and say, 'There you go'. If we were going do this, we were not gonna just have a go; we're going to go crazy with it. And the customer was keen; he said, 'I'm in; let's go for it; let's go crazy!"
The first thing you notice when looking at the E-Volt is the glass. It takes a moment to fully realise what's unusual about it, but you know it's instinctively somehow better. Jan approached an automotive glass manufacturer in Finland who was set to work on making new windows for the car. The second thing you notice, beyond the slick glass edging (usually bordered with unsightly rubber strips), is the removal of the guttering. The bodywork and glass are flush and smooth, resulting in a slippery and aerodynamic finish.The underpinnings of the car are equally impressive, as Jan went on to explain.
"We removed some aluminium beams in the front and made them different, then that aluminium got recycled to be re-cast into the new components. So, bring it on, Elon Musk! - I will arm wrestle on sustainability on this one! The leather is from cows that are walking just behind our workshop. The customer wanted modern seats, so we found a set of 997 seats, which we retrimmed with the new leather. The motor is a Tesla S drivetrain, and we went for new batteries because you don't know how pre-used batteries are or what the condition is."
The colour, a dark green close to British racing green, was specified by the customer as all paint colours are. KALMAR gives customers an unlimited choice of colours; in this case, the green is nicknamed 'seaweed green.'
The fit and finish on the EV is perfect. The E-Volt is not only the best EV-converted Porsche 911 I've seen but one of the best modern-day creations of a classic 911 I've ever been fortunate enough to witness - regardless of powertrain. A silhouette of the 911 with a bonnet and boot slightly open is on the doorsill. Pressing on the bonnet on the silhouette for a few seconds electronically pops the hood, and on the rear boot, the engine cover opens. This level of attention to detail is far beyond what I've seen anywhere else. Given that EV’s were not initially on the KALMAR Automotive agenda, I was keen to find out Jan's thoughts on the car now that it's complete.
"Do I believe in it–as an EV? Not really. The car is very nice, and it's interesting because it has more than 400 horsepower and 600 Newton metres, so it's faster than anything - but I dislike two things about electric cars: range fear and weight. I fundamentally don't understand why they [EV manufacturers] all fight to make 600 kilometres range because you will drive a tank at that point. Most people who buy an EV need to go in town and out again. One hundred kilometres at the most, so put in much smaller batteries and charge more often. We have a 220-mile range. We are more efficient with this car than with a Porsche Taycan, which is kind of funny. But it's all down to weight because even with the batteries and motors, we weigh less than a 964 Turbo."
Thinner glass and lightweight body panels help massively with weight savings, which could fool you into thinking they are made from conventional carbon fibre. It's plant fibre, woven in the same way as carbon, but through its farming and creation, it's far more sustainable. It is currently one of only a few cars worldwide that use it.
Despite Jan's clear opinion that EVs are not the silver bullet to motoring, he's still keen to do his part by implementing a rigorous waste management and recycling system for his factory and workshops.
"We take care of our waste in a good way. Everything we take off the donor cars will be returned to the trade, so it's being reused. I saw a report that the most environmentally friendly car ever made is the Jeep Wrangler because it's being reused and reused and reused. When one finally dies, it's stripped, and the parts go on other cars, which you don't do on modern cars anymore. If you would do a CO2 life lifespan calculation on old cars, the result would be completely different. I'm a full freak of diesel. My biggest dream would be to do a turbo diesel 911, which would be very cool and greener than most modern EVs today."
The E-Volt has clearly created some personal conflict for Jan. Whilst it was never a goal, he's also clearly inherently proud of it, and rightly so. Jan kindly offered a short drive of the E-Volt, as he did with the RS-R; however, given the bespoke car pending unveiling to a global audience at Goodwood just a few days later, I politely declined.
The future of KALMAR
In the grand scheme of things, KALMAR is still a new brand. For a few more years, many admirers will incorrectly identify 7-97s as Californian creations; however, with time, I'm confident that many more will know that they're far more significant in their own unique way.
While chatting with Jan, he showed me, in great confidentiality, some images of the car that's coming next, different to the 7-97. Whilst I won't break our secrecy agreement on what's coming next, I implore you to keep an eye on the brand and even more so on what's being revealed at the Pebble Beach Concours de Elegance in a few days from this published article.
I'll leave you with one last anecdote from the man, which he shared while showing off his new creation, coming very soon.
"There are no rational movements, no rational thoughts in what we are doing. It is at the very base of the pyramid of needs. We are talking pure stupid stupidity. But when you have worked your ass off, or you were lucky that your grandparents did–then why not?
I like the good old saying: there's a reason why a dog licks its own balls. Because it can."
words: John Marcar in conversation with Jan Kalmar
car photographs: Henry Faulkner-Smith
supporting images: KALMAR Automotive
special thanks to DK Engineering and We Are Nameless PR
