Unique Porsche ‘surf car’

Thus, Tadeusz Elwart, the manager of the Chałupy 6 campsite and the creator of the Hel Riders festival, immersed himself in the Porsche experience from a young age. Growing up with this passion mixed with life by the sea, these ideas intertwined. And if you already have the Porsche of your dreams in your garage, perhaps you should start looking for other ideas. The idea for the 928 Surfari came about in connection with the Hel Riders festival.

What many considered an insurmountable task was a positive boost for the Hel Riders team, who were tasked with creating this unique “surf car”. The idea was to create an off-road capable Porsche that would also be the perfect beach car and surf taxi to take its passengers there once the big waves were spotted.

The 928, with its classic Porsche V8 engine, is a good starting point. Anyone who knows it knows it’s something special and that there will be no shortage of power. Soon other problems began to arise: for example, how to adjust the gearbox, differential and suspension to turn the 928 into a beach buggy. Then along came Tomasz Staniszewski, a brilliant engineer and rally driver who had just finished the Dakar Classic in his own Porsche 924. Staniszewski knew the project would be very demanding, but he found solutions to achieve his goal – a 928 with a surfing soul.

The Surfari was created by local talent, so its styling is the work of Lange & Lange. These twin brothers have been part of the Chałupy 6 scene for decades. They are responsible for the car’s appearance, from the overall concept to small details like the stripes, roof rack, surf backpack, and even a vintage Porsche Design helmet.

But the story wouldn’t be complete without a surfboard. Jędrzej Jankowiak from Polvo Surfboard created a unique board for this 928, designed specifically for the waves of the Baltic. It is wider and has an unusual curvature, which helps it cope with the short and fast waves of the Hel Peninsula. During each ride, the board is attached to the top, so the 928 Surfari will always be ready to conquer the waves.

After their debut at the Hel Riders festival, they took the Surfari on a road trip. A convoy was assembled heading to Sylt in Germany for the Petro-Surf air-cooled Porsche car festival and then to the island of Rømø in Denmark. These turned out to be the perfect places to really experience it, as well as get in touch with its natural environment. The entire Hel Riders crew got to see the 928 Surfari cruising the beach. Now that the story continues, we just have to wait for the next wave.