Introducing Leh Keen‘s brainchild Safari 911. Young professional race driver Leh is needing less and less of an introduction over the years. So much that he has his own Wikipedia page. Usually the first thing that comes to mind when trying to evoke how incredible Leh is at his craft, I point to the video Rain Dance… After watching that, I realized why top racecar drivers get paid the big bucks.
The Leh I know has a trove of whimsical Japanese art displayed in his living room, tinkers with model RC airplanes, races grueling 24hr events with no sign of fear, and turns any situation into an opportunity to play. He’s basically a 9yo kid stuck in a 6’5″ body… but instead of Legos, Leh prefers Porsches, which is why Porsche Club of America wanted him featured in their latest issue of Panorama. Leh’s built his Safari 911 to go anywhere, so we started early in the morning in the concrete jungle of downtown Atlanta, and ended in the deep mountains of the Appalachia splashing through rivers no sports car would dare cross. This 911 isn’t built for a showroom, it’s built to get (very) dirty and fill Leh’s everlasting hunger for fun.
Instead of another vain BTS video featuring me fiddling with my camera, Will Keown shot a short feature film focusing on just Leh and his Safari 911 throughout the day… and boy did he get it right. It’s hard to beat a classic lifted 911 on mud tires going full tilt through a backwoods creek at 240 frames per second. Now I’ll feel guilty to ever request another BTS video in the future knowing that he can produce such a beautiful piece of cinematography. Enjoy!
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One thing I learned from this assignment, is to never ask Leh if he’s confident in whipping his 911 around dirt roads. I felt pretty daft after asking that question while sitting shotgun in his Safari 911 while careening around dirt roads accompanied by cliffs inches from the rear rubber. In Leh I trust! Thanks goes out to assistant Jamie C. Sapp who helped Will Keown and I get all the shots we needed, and mother nature for giving us such a beautiful day to play with Leh’s new 911.
For more info about the car and how it was built, check out the features on AutoBlog, and Fatlace.