M I C H I G A N
A CANNONDALE PROJECT
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I throw my bike on the roof of my car, drive some enjoyable roads to get somewhere, put in a solid effort on the bike and then drive some good roads on the way back and get home, sit down, cra ck o p e n a c o l d o n e a n d g o, “ N ow t h a t was a good use of my time.�
Rider Allan Thom, @a.thom Special Thanks Alger Bikes: @algerbikes Leh Keen: @lehmank #TheKeenProject Photographer Chris Milliman, @millimans
t’s quiet. Calm. Still. Bird song carries through the leaves. A tree falls in the forest. The Michigan gravel roads sit empty under overcast skies. An engine, off in the distance, cuts through the tranquility. The crunch of gravel under all-terrain tires. The throaty roar of an air-cooled flat-six echos, purrs. The car drifts round the bend, slightly askew, then rights itself and rips down the lane. Allan Thom passes by at the wheel, his aluminum spectacles shining. Window down. Doppler of sound. A dust cloud in his wake. The birds grow quiet. Reverent. The leaves quiver. The forest is still. Calm. Quiet. Nearly a half-century ago, Allan Thom sat in the passenger seat. Ten years old. His father at the wheel, driving the North Dakota backroads Dad knew like the weathered back of his hand. The dust. The sound. The speed. It all quickened young Allan’s heart, then settled into his bones. The call of the gravel. The thrill of the dirt.
By Matthew Ankeny
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Thom the elder was a mechanic. Thom the younger became
decades in between, Thom helped WeatherTech expand
a mechanic. Allan Thom dreamed of being a rally driver,
their product line, move manufacturing to America, and
lusting after those Group B rally cars like every other
grow from 30 employees to 1,200. Given his competitive
red-blooded car nut in the ‘80s. He went to a rally school
spirit, he liked market competition as well. He worked his
and he raced an ice-racing series in Minnesota, but he didn’t
way up and became president of the company seven years
end up pursuing rally all the way to the main stage. He ran
ago; in that role he met a WeatherTech driver named Leh
his shop, worked on race cars and raced as an amateur with
Keen — a Porsche fanboy from Georgia. Keen and Thom
the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). A decade later, he
got to talking German cars, rallying, dirt. Keen mentioned
settled down a bit. He married, had his first son and left his
a project he’d started — modifying ‘80s Porsche 911s to be
shop to work for a small — at the time — car-mat operation
off-road ready. He was creating the Safari 911. “When the
named WeatherTech. “The racing thing was not easy to do
concept of the Safari 911 came out, I was like, ‘That’s exactly
anymore,” he said, referencing the growing demands on his
the thing I want,’” Thom said. “I enjoy that style of driving.
free time. “But riding a bike was.”
I enjoy those kinds of roads. And, I can throw my bike on the Safari and now I have an excuse to go somewhere like Michigan and ride.”
Mountain, gravel and cyclocross racing are spirit sisters to rallying, and Thom gravitated toward them. He could get up early, knock out a race and be home with the family for
Thom signed up for Keen’s next car. “He’s the perfect Safari
the day. “I’m competitive. I like to compete,” he said. To get
owner,” Keen said. “He uses his car a lot. He goes out and
the fix, in the late ‘90s and on into the 2000s, he raced
gets it muddy. And he enjoys it.” Keen kept Safari number
bicycles, not race cars.
one for himself. Thom owns Safari number two.
“I kind of got away from cars, and now, in the last five or
“I drive it everywhere, even in the winter,” Thom, who lives
six years I got back into cars,” Thom said. During the two
in the Chicago suburbs, said. “I don’t care. I’ll drive it to
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the city, because if someone bumps into it, backs into it;
It’s hard to tell what Thom loves more: car or bike. They’re
I’m not going to lose any sleep.” More frequently, though,
equal and complementary passions. Riding unlocks his
Thom finds himself on the gravel backroads he loves.
competitive side. Driving unlocks his love of air-cooled,
He drives that raised, big-tire 911 out to ride his big-tire bicycle.
rear-engine machines. Both fuel his appetite for adventure.
“The car and the bike are metaphors for each other,” Thom “The Safari 911 is a perfectly suited, road-legal car, yet when
offered. And they are — they are both expertly modified
you get it in its right element, you can be — to a certain
machines that come alive when the pavement ends.
degree — a race car driver,” Thom said. He waxed eloquent
“When the concept of the S afari 911 came out, I was like, ‘That’s exactly the thing I want,’” Thom said. “I enjoy that style of driving. I enjoy those kinds of roads. And, I can throw my bike on t he S afari and now I have an excuse t o go somewhere like Michigan and ride.”
on the unique characteristics of a Porsche drive — even more pronounced in the Safari 911. “How does it drive? Well, those common Porsche attributes of understeer at the entrance of the corner and oversteer at the exit of the corner are still there. They’re just comically exaggerated. You’re laughing as you’re doing it.” He’s also laughing once he hops on the bike and takes off on the rolling undulations near the Yankee Springs Recreation Area. Past the birds. Past the leaves. Past the rippling water on the ponds and lakes, stirred up by his zephyr of fast-moving air. He reaches the trailhead. He rounds a low dirt barrier and forges on, down the narrow path, racing away.
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The Lefty Oliver fork is the most capable road-going suspension fork ever created, delivering 30mm of bobfree travel and pinpoint handling on tarmac, trail and everything in between.
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Massive 42c tires on 650b wheels let you ride at road speeds while enjoying exceptional cornering grip and traction.
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Short chainstays give the Slate snap and agility, while the dramatic curves in both the seatstays and chainstays flex to absorb shock and vibration.
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A slack head angle and long front-center keep things stable and confident when heading off road.
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The 3.2 liter, aircooled engine is mostly stock, from a 1989 Porsche 911. Light modifications include a K&N Air Filter, Steve Wong ECU Chip and Dansk RS Type Exhaust.
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The interior tartan fabric is original Porsche factory material from the 70’s, imported from Germany.
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The light pod features two Spot (for long range view) and two Fog (for close, ground view) lenses paired to individual switches in the cabin.
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Big BFG K02 Baja tires rip the road toward Adiprene mud flaps, imported from Italy.
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The lightweight ducktail adds high speed stability. And it looks the business!
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I N T E R V I E W Leh Keen raced sports cars professionally for over a decade. In 2012,
What modifications go into the car?
he started driving for WeatherTech, where he met Allan Thom. In
The concept is simple — kinda simple-stupid. Long-travel shocks.
2013, he started The Keen Project, and, after building one 911 Safari
Upgraded torsion bars. Polymer bushings all around the car.
for himself, he sold his second — pictured in this magazine — to Thom.
We modify the front strut. Little bit of strengthening here or there. We keep the engine pretty simple. We’ll go through and do all the maintenance stuff. We do a full exhaust. Make sure the timing’s
How did this project begin?
good and there are no mechanical issues with it.
It all started a long time ago. Basically, all my life I’ve been surrounded by Porsches — starting when I was three years old.
The exterior gets the bumper bars — bolted through the bumper
I went to races as a kid with my dad, then I got into racing and
straight to the chassis. The light pod, so you can see at night.
started driving and I worked my way up and became a true,
The mud flaps. We shave the mirrors. The ducktail. I like the ducktail.
professional driver — mostly in Porsches.
Not all cars have the ducktail. But all the cars have the crazy, really cool interiors. That’s important to me, also.
I loved the 911, and I’ve always loved rallying. So, I started The Keen Project in 2013. It’s a design company and a management
And how does the 911 fare on gravel roads?
company that builds complete, turnkey Porsches.
Nobody ever thinks, “Let’s take a 911 out in the dirt, get it muddy and slide it around.” But it actually is one of the best cars for
What inspired the 911 Safari design?
that. The first race a Porsche 911 did was the Monte Carlo Rally
The Safari idea was a 911 that was a carefree drive. You could just
in 1965. Then Porsche rally’d and safari’d them through the late
enjoy, have fun and not have to worry about it so much. It’s an
‘60s, through the ‘70s and into the early ‘80s. With the engine
‘80s 911; super simple, super reliable. And the whole concept is
in the rear, it has a lot of weight back there, so it has the grip to
inspired by the East African Safari and Paris-Dakar Rally cars.
get out of a slippery situation. The car is a dual-purpose vehicle. I’ve daily-driven my car for Then there’s the feel of the car; how well balanced a 911 is.
months. I can take it to downtown Atlanta and squeeze through
It talks to you and you know exactly what it’s doing. And the
traffic and jump up on a curb if I want to, and then I can drive up to
reliability — you can be out in the woods and not worry about it
the mountains and hit the national forest roads — one-lane gravel
and know it’s going to keep going. And it’s small. It all adds up
roads ripping through the mountains.
to the perfect car. Why a 911?
It also looks good.
I wanted the enjoyment of an old, air-cooled 911, but I also want-
If I’m sticking big tires on a 911, might as well make it look cool.
ed to be able to drive the car and not worry about it. So I built it tough and raised it up, so it could go anywhere. You can pretend to be a rally driver, or you can daily-drive it. There’s just so many uses. And the whole time you’re in an air-cooled 911.
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