The Details
THE BETTER UNDERDOG
How KAMM Manufaktur turned Porsche’s quieter classic into a serious modern proposition.
“At the beginning, it was simply the car I wanted to exist.”
Miklós Kázmér, founder of KAMM Manufaktur
- Words
- Jacek Dudasz
- Images
- KAMM Manufaktur@kammanufaktur_ Máté Boér@mateboerphotography Rich Pearce@richpearcephoto Daniel Piker@pikerphoto
Retromotive Volume 25, The Details. In print, pages 64–85.
For most of its life, the Porsche 912 has been introduced by comparison. It was the four-cylinder car, the more accessible car, the one that shared the early 911 shape without the mythology surrounding its engine. That distinction made the 912 easy to understand, but also easy to place in the background. Its original role was more substantial than its later reputation suggests. Introduced in 1965 as a successor to the 356 and a less expensive companion to the new 911, the 912 was lighter, carried less weight behind the rear axle and, for a period, outsold its six-cylinder sibling. Almost 30,000 were produced before the original model was discontinued in 1969. Did not see it as an incomplete 911. When Miklós Kázmér founded what would become KAMM Manufaktur, he was answering a personal question rather than building a company around an overlooked niche. “At the beginning, it was simply the car I wanted to exist,” he says. “I was not trying to build a company. I wanted to build what I thought would be the best classic for me, something light, analogue, usable, properly sorted, and emotional, but still engineered in a serious way.”
That car became the KAMM 912C. The term restomod now covers such a broad range of projects that it does not fully explain what KAMM has created. The 912C is a reinterpretation of the original car, a composite engineering project and a small-series specialist build from Budapest. Its central achievement is that it gives the 912 its own argument rather than presenting it as a substitute for something more prestigious. “The 912 had the right basics,” says Kázmér. “It is lighter, simpler, and more balanced than most people expect. It is also an underdog, and I have always liked underdogs. People expect greatness from a 911. They do not expect nearly as much from a 912, and that makes it more interesting to me.” For Kázmér, the appeal lay precisely in those overlooked qualities. “The 912 deserves to be judged on its own terms,” he says. “It has its own strengths and character, which gave us exactly what we needed.” KAMM develops that argument through mass rather than extreme power.
The argument in three numbers
Start with less mass
In its lightest Full Carbon specification, the 912C is claimed to weigh 699 kg with fluids.
Claimed weight with fluids. Lightest Full Carbon specification; individual customer cars vary.
An air-cooled flat-four
Its air-cooled 2.0-litre flat-four produces 182 hp and drives the rear wheels through a five-speed manual transmission.
The estimated 0–62 mph time is approximately six seconds.
Consider the relationship
Those figures are modest by the standards of contemporary high-performance cars, though their relationship is more revealing than either number in isolation. At 699 kg, the 912C carries approximately 260 hp per tonne.
Adding a larger engine would also require more cooling, stronger brakes and wider wheels and tyres, beginning a cycle that would undermine the low-mass premise of the car. It has now been examined beyond KAMM’s own workshop. Independent road tests have repeatedly described a car that feels exceptionally light, responsive and engaging without requiring extreme speed. PistonHeads found that the 912C comes alive on ordinary roads and allows its driver to use several gears without immediately reaching antisocial velocities. Autocar compared its immediacy to that of a Caterham with a roof, while later reporting that the finish and everyday usability had improved considerably as the company matured. The Autopian reached a similar conclusion, describing a car that rewards its driver at sensible speeds rather than overwhelming the experience with power. Also introduce an important qualification. The KAMM is not effortless. Its manual gearshift requires a deliberate hand, the unassisted brakes need pressure, and the major controls are heavier than the delicacy of the chassis might suggest. These are not incidental observations. They help define the boundary KAMM is working within. The 912C has become easier to use as it has developed, but it has not been softened into a modern car wearing an old body. Its appeal still depends on physical effort, mechanical noise and the driver learning its rhythm.
That distinction supports Kázmér’s claim more convincingly than a specification sheet alone. The car appears to retain some of the demands of an early Porsche while removing enough of its limitations to make regular use plausible. Kázmér did not arrive at this through a conventional automotive engineering career. He is a filmmaker by profession, though cars have been present from the beginning. His father was an engineer, and as a child Kázmér spent time around a rally garage. Later came air-cooled projects, restorations and race cars. KAMM grew from that combination of visual judgment and practical mechanical curiosity. “Film teaches you that every detail matters, and that everything has to work together,” he says. “I think it is exactly the same with a car. Proportions, surfaces, materials, stance, interior mood, the way small details are integrated, all of that shapes how the car feels as a whole.” That background is evident in the way he describes the car. Individual components matter, but their value depends on how they work with everything around them. The aim is coherence, rather than a donor shell surrounded by expensive parts.
It is also a response to a familiar problem in restomod culture. More power, grip and visual drama may improve the figures, while gradually removing the qualities that made the original car interesting. “For me, the line is quite simple,” he says. “If a change makes the car better without changing its identity, it is worth considering. If something gives you a bigger number or more drama, but makes the car feel less honest, less natural or less like a 912, then it is probably the wrong direction.” That thinking extends to the car’s performance. Lower mass improves acceleration, braking and changes of direction without demanding a substantial increase in power. It also allows the car to retain relatively narrow 15-inch tyres. The engine comes alive higher in the rev range, but the performance remains usable on public roads. There is enough speed to explore the engine and chassis without speed becoming the car’s defining quality. “I hope they notice that it simply makes them want to keep driving,” he says. “That, for me, is the real test: whether the car makes you take the longer way home.”
The exterior follows the same restrained approach. The early Porsche shape depends heavily on proportion, and substantial alterations can quickly make it appear dressed up rather than properly resolved. “The original car already has beautiful proportions, so the goal is never to redesign it,” says Kázmér. “It is to refine what is already there. With a car like this, subtlety is everything. Small changes matter a lot.” That philosophy does not rule out exposed carbon, graphics or more assertive interiors, but each element must remain compatible with the original shape. Even unusually specified examples tend to register first as carefully resolved classic Porsches rather than conspicuous modern exotica. The absence of oversized arches, extreme tyres and obvious lighting updates is central to that impression. Carbon fibre became one of KAMM’s signatures partly for practical reasons. The components Kázmér wanted were not available in the required form or quality, leaving the company to develop them in-house. “If we wanted the fit, precision, stiffness and weight saving we were after, we had to do it ourselves,” he says. Using composites also changed the nature of the build. A metal panel can often be adjusted during assembly. A carbon component has to emerge from its tooling with the correct shape, mounting points and structural relationship to the rest of the car. “The door is probably one of the hardest to get right,” he says. “It is a very complex piece because it is not just an outer skin. You have the outer, the inner, the reinforcements, and every single millimetre matters.” By the time the latest Full Carbon cars reached independent road tests, KAMM was producing more than 150 composite parts in-house. The company had invested in its own autoclave and recruited staff with experience at Aston Martin, Koenigsegg and Dallara. Autocar reported that the team had grown from three people to 14, with electrical work, painting and carbon production increasingly brought under the company’s direct control. Visible less in one dramatic component than in the accumulation of small improvements.
KAMM 912C / Engineering ledger
Behind the figures
The engineering, the build and the qualifications behind the headline numbers.
01
The car
- 2.0 l
- Air-cooled flat-four
- 5-speed
- Manual transmission, driving the rear wheels
- ≈ 6 s
- 0–62 mph, estimated
- 15 in
- Relatively narrow tyres, retained thanks to the low mass
02
The build
- 150+
- Composite parts produced in-house
- 3 → 14
- Growth of the team, as reported by Autocar
- 3.5 kg
- A carbon steelie, as quoted by Kázmér
- 5-stage
- TracTive dampers
03
In practice
- ≈ 770 kg
- An extensively equipped customer car, as tested by Autocar
- €360,000
- Starting price, before the cost of a donor car
- 1965–69
- Build years of the 912 donor shells
Later customer cars showed clear improvements in upholstery, detailing and insulation, along with a greater sense of consistency throughout. Redesigned Smiths instruments, discreet ventilation and revised door frames make the car easier to use without drawing attention away from the interior itself. The most revealing details are often the ones that almost disappear once installed. “The carbon steelies are another one, I really love those,” Kázmér says. “They look so natural, especially once the hubcap is on, but at 3.5 kg they are something completely different underneath.” The wheels reproduce the form of conventional pressed-steel wheels in carbon fibre, allowing a period appearance to conceal a substantial reduction in unsprung mass. “One detail most people do not notice at all is the ventilation integrated into the kicker pad,” he continues. “It is so integrated that almost nobody sees it, but these cars practically never had proper ventilation there in the first place. It looks simple once done, but getting it right was not simple at all.” He applies the same attention to the indicator stalk, wrapping it in the leather used elsewhere in the cabin and adding a small section of the seat material to its reverse. “Small things, but they matter.” Long before any of those elements are installed, the standard of the finished car is determined by more fundamental work. “The donor shell, first of all,” he says. “That is probably the foundation of everything. Then panel fit is incredibly demanding. Getting everything beautiful and precise is very difficult, very slow, very painstaking work. And finally, final assembly. At that point everything comes together, and you have to be careful with absolutely everything.”
The condition of the donor remains one variable that even an increasingly systematic process cannot eliminate. The cars were built between 1965 and 1969, and each shell arrives with a different history. KAMM prefers a structurally straight but corroded car over one that has been poorly repaired after an accident. Every project therefore begins with an assessment of what can be retained and what must be corrected before the more visible work starts. The challenge was making the resulting standard repeatable.
“In the beginning, a lot of it was almost like building a prototype every single time. Very one-off, very piece by piece. Since then we have been working hard to standardize parts, quality control, production templates, and systems, so every detail becomes better, more repeatable, more reliable, and more beautiful.” “The cars still feel bespoke, but the way we build them has become much more mature.”
The first customer cars show how the same philosophy has been adapted to different briefs. Based in Miami, KAMM001 is a Semi Carbon car with hybrid P917 wheels, cedar green race seats and a livery that uses exposed composite as part of its graphic treatment.
KAMM002, built for a client in Prague, represented a more consequential development. Its Crystal Blue body, touring interior and exposed carbon roof pushed KAMM towards the Full Carbon programme before that specification had been formally established. “The client pushed us to go there before it even really existed as a finished offer, so this car became a real development milestone for KAMM,” says Kázmér. “It is definitely more of a statement than some of the other cars, and the two-tone treatment makes it slightly divisive, but that is exactly why it is memorable.”
Sent to Australia, KAMM003 became the first right-hand-drive customer build. Light Ivory paint, tan leather and Porsche pepita give it a more traditional appearance, despite the titanium exhaust and carbon steel-style wheels beneath it.
KAMM004 takes a quieter route. Finished in light Gulf Blue, the Full Carbon car combines black leather with Spirit of Le Mans-inspired fabric and restrained orange and blue details. “The whole car is very clean and resolved,” Kázmér says. “More of an ‘if you know, you know’ kind of car.”
The Singapore-bound KAMM005 is more expressive. Medium Ivory bodywork is paired with gold bumpers and wheels, while its chocolate brown interior uses Porsche Pasha upholstery. “It is sporty, sexy, and definitely bolder than most, but for me the important thing is that it still works as a whole.”
Collectively, the cars demonstrate the range of the commissioning process, though their greater significance lies in the way individual requests have influenced the product itself. Full Carbon construction, right-hand-drive development, touring equipment and more effective climate control were not simply decorative options. They required the company to solve new engineering and production problems. “The main difference is usually character, use, feeling, personality,” Kázmér says. “In a way, each build is a bit like self-expression, almost like a tattoo. Two cars can come from the same philosophy and still feel very different in the end.”
Detail Index
The terms, parts and cars behind the story.
- Carbon steelies
- Carbon-fibre wheels that reproduce the form of conventional pressed-steel wheels. Quoted by Kázmér at 3.5 kg, they keep a period appearance while concealing a substantial reduction in unsprung mass.
- Donor shell
- The original Porsche 912 body, built between 1965 and 1969, on which each car is based; for Kázmér, “probably the foundation of everything”. Each arrives with a different history, and KAMM prefers a structurally straight but corroded car over one poorly repaired after an accident. The €360,000 starting price excludes the donor.
- Five-speed transaxle
- The transmission remains a work in progress, and KAMM has said it is developing its own five-speed transaxle. The prototype, KAMM000, is evolving again to test new engine, gearbox and suspension ideas.
- Full Carbon and Semi Carbon
- KAMM’s construction specifications. The 699 kg claim, with fluids, applies to the lightest Full Carbon configuration; leather trim, rear seats, heating, audio equipment and climate control add weight, and one extensively equipped example tested by Autocar weighed approximately 770 kg. KAMM002 pushed the company towards Full Carbon before it was a finished offer. KAMM001 is a Semi Carbon car.
- In-house composites
- KAMM began making its own carbon parts because the components Kázmér wanted were not available in the required form or quality. It now produces more than 150 composite parts in-house and has invested in its own autoclave. Unlike a metal panel, a carbon component has to emerge from its tooling with the correct shape and mounting points; the door, with its outer, inner and reinforcements, is among the hardest to get right.
- KAMM 912C
- KAMM Manufaktur’s reinterpretation of the Porsche 912: a composite engineering project and a small-series specialist build from Budapest. An air-cooled 2.0-litre flat-four of 182 hp drives the rear wheels through a five-speed manual transmission; 0–62 mph is estimated at approximately six seconds.
- Kicker-pad ventilation
- Ventilation integrated so discreetly into the kicker pad that almost nobody sees it. These cars, Kázmér notes, practically never had proper ventilation there in the first place; it looks simple once done, but getting it right was not.
- Porsche 912
- Introduced in 1965 as a successor to the 356 and a less expensive companion to the new 911, with four cylinders where its sibling had six. It was lighter, carried less weight behind the rear axle and for a period outsold the 911. Almost 30,000 were produced before the original model was discontinued in 1969.
- Power-to-weight
- The relationship at the centre of the 912C. At 699 kg and 182 hp, it carries approximately 260 hp per tonne. A larger engine would demand more cooling, stronger brakes and wider wheels and tyres, a cycle that would undermine the car’s low-mass premise. Low mass also lets it keep relatively narrow 15-inch tyres.
- Restomod
- A term that now covers such a broad range of projects that it does not fully explain what KAMM has created. The article notes a familiar problem in restomod culture: more power, grip and visual drama may improve the figures while gradually removing the qualities that made the original car interesting.
- TracTive dampers
- Five-stage dampers introduced as the 912C was developed beyond its more severe prototype set-up, alongside slower steering, revised gear ratios, electronic fuel injection and new brakes.
KAMM000–KAMM005
The prototype and the first customer cars.
- KAMM000
- The Irish Green prototype. Shown to the press at Goodwood, and still a development tool for new engine, gearbox and suspension ideas.
- KAMM001
- Miami. Semi Carbon, with hybrid P917 wheels, cedar green race seats and exposed composite used in its livery.
- KAMM002
- Prague. Crystal Blue, touring interior and an exposed carbon roof; a development milestone towards the Full Carbon programme.
- KAMM003
- Australia. The first right-hand-drive customer build: Light Ivory, tan leather and Porsche pepita, with a titanium exhaust and carbon steel-style wheels.
- KAMM004
- Light Gulf Blue, Full Carbon. Black leather, Spirit of Le Mans-inspired fabric and restrained orange and blue details.
- KAMM005
- Singapore. Medium Ivory bodywork with gold bumpers and wheels, and a chocolate brown interior in Porsche Pasha upholstery.
The freedom offered to clients introduces another complication. A 699 kg headline figure applies to the lightest Full Carbon configuration, rather than every finished car. Leather trim, rear seats, heating, audio equipment and climate control add weight. One extensively equipped customer example tested by Autocar weighed approximately 770 kg. That remains exceptionally light by modern standards, but it demonstrates how quickly individual specifications can move the car away from its most uncompromising form. “If I had to mention the car that is maybe most emotionally important to me, it would be KAMM000, the Irish Green prototype,” Kázmér says. “Obviously because of all the memories, but also because it is still alive as a development tool. Right now it is evolving again so we can test new engine, gearbox, and suspension ideas. That makes it very special to me.” The prototype brought the project into public view. “The first press week with the prototype was a huge moment. Showing the early car at Goodwood, which was a bucket-list place for me anyway, to magazines I had only ever read before, and seeing that these people genuinely cared about my car, was unforgettable.”
The car tested at that stage was more severe than the later customer versions. Its steering was unusually quick, the gearing was shorter, and the set-up was closer to that of a road-legal competition car. Subsequent development introduced slower steering, revised gear ratios, electronic fuel injection, new brakes and five-stage TracTive dampers. Each change made the 912C easier to use regularly without removing the physical involvement central to its character. That development has not eliminated every weakness. The transmission remains a work in progress, and KAMM has said it is developing its own five-speed transaxle. Noise, heavy controls and the compromises of a compact 1960s cabin remain part of the experience. Whether those qualities are acceptable in a car priced alongside contemporary supercars will inevitably divide opinion.
The KAMM 912C starts from €360,000 before the cost of a donor car. At that level, the absence of a six-cylinder engine becomes more than a point of specification. The customer must accept that lightness, balance and involvement can carry greater value than outright power, prestige or the familiar sound of a flat-six. Published road tests suggest that the argument works dynamically. This places the 912C in an unusually narrow category. Kázmér wants KAMM to make classics genuinely usable and engaging for a new generation, rather than preserve them as static objects. “It is not about freezing old cars in time,” he says. “It is about carrying the original myth, atmosphere and DNA forward in a way that still works today.”
His ambition is for KAMM to be regarded as a small but serious manufacturer, with genuine engineering credibility and a clear, enduring point of view. That ambition is increasingly supported by the company’s progress. Customer cars have reached several continents, composite production has moved in-house, and successive road tests have documented improvements in quality and usability. The car is still imperfect, but those weaknesses also show that its development remains active rather than complete. KAMM began with the car Kázmér wanted to drive, and the original prototype remains central to the company’s work. It regularly returns to the workshop as new engines, gearboxes and suspension ideas are tested. For a business built around preserving the identity of an old Porsche, its clearest expression is a car that has never been treated as finished.
