There is a small coachbuilder carrying the Danish flag into one of the most exclusive corners of the car world, and there is a good chance you have never heard of it. Kalmar Automotive calls its new creation the 9X9, and the company describes it, without much modesty, as “the Retro Hypercar”, a tribute to one of the greatest road going sports cars ever built, reimagined with modern engineering and built in strictly limited numbers.
A Danish identity built on Viking DNA
Kalmar’s branding leans heavily into its Danish roots. The company’s crest carries the Dannebrog, the Danish flag, alongside a chequered motorsport pattern, a racetrack outline and a traditional Viking symbol of innovation at its centre. Kalmar frames its own identity around that Viking spirit: independent thinking, teamwork and the idea that giving up simply is not an option. The cars themselves are built in Estonia, a detail Kalmar connects back to Danish legend, referencing the story of the Dannebrog falling from the sky there some 800 years ago.
Kalmar describes its brand values as passion and integrity, boldness, obsessive attention to detail, individuality and a genuine commitment to sustainability, values it sums up under the label “automotive haute couture”, tailor made perfection without compromise.
Next generation coachbuilders, by their own admission
The concept behind the 9X9 is a tribute to a car that pushed research and development to its limits in the early 1980s, reinterpreted as something entirely its own. Kalmar puts it plainly: it dares to call itself a next generation coachbuilder, blending current technology and powertrains with contemporary coachbuilding techniques. The company frames the 9X9 as a reaction against the trend toward ever heavier, larger cars, aiming instead to prove that a small series producer can combine performance, durability and exclusivity in a single package.
Exclusivity here is not a marketing line. Each of the three model lines is limited to just nine units, and every car is tailor made for its owner, meaning no two examples will ever be identical in either specification or appearance.
Three very different characters, one shared shape
Kalmar plans to build at least three distinct versions of the 9X9 in parallel, each aimed at a different kind of driver.
The 9X9 Turbo is the comfort oriented model, built around power and a GT feel. Its 3.8 litre turbocharged engine sends more than 900 hp to the road through a double clutch transmission and an active all wheel drive system, paired with adaptive suspension and adjustable ride height, with active engine mounts controlling the immense torque. Kalmar quotes 930 hp and 1,030 Nm, a top speed of 340 km/h, and a 0 to 100 km/h time of just 2 seconds.
The 9X9 Sport shifts the focus toward driver involvement and reduced weight, using an upgraded 3.0 litre engine paired with a 7-speed manual gearbox, sending 650 hp and 720 Nm through a modern adaptive all wheel drive system. Sports suspension and reduced sound insulation are meant to sharpen the experience, with a top speed of 320 km/h and 0 to 100 km/h in 3.5 seconds.
The 9X9 Leichtbau, German for lightweight construction, is the purist of the three. A normally aspirated 4.0 litre engine mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox drives the rear wheels only, with 515 hp and 455 Nm, extreme weight reduction, and reduced comfort in the name of driver engagement, described by Kalmar as almost a track day special. Top speed is 300 km/h, with 0 to 100 km/h in 3.6 seconds.
All three share a 1,000 kg peak downforce figure, carbon ceramic brakes measuring 400mm at the front and 380mm at the rear, and a starting price of 1,959,000 euros ex works.
Engineering targets set before the first sketch
Development of the 9X9 began, unusually, by defining performance targets before a single design line was drawn. Kalmar’s engineers set out to beat the original car’s Nürburgring lap time by at least 1 km/h while dipping under 7 minutes, to avoid large visible spoilers, to keep the car small, compact and genuinely lightweight, and, critically, to keep it usable as an everyday road car rather than a pure track special.
The original car’s notoriously short wheelbase was the first thing to go once simulations began, with Kalmar adding 60mm, resulting in a wheelbase still a full 120mm shorter than today’s typical rear engined sports cars.
A double wishbone front end, and shock absorbers with a trick up their sleeve
The suspension is where Kalmar’s engineering ambition shows most clearly. The 9X9 uses a double wishbone pushrod front axle paired with a true multilink rear axle, a setup that allows both rear wheel drive and all wheel drive configurations while reducing unsprung mass for gains in both performance and comfort. Forward mounted front shock absorbers reflect the same obsessive attention to weight distribution, and Kalmar notes clear motorsport DNA throughout, while still delivering real gains in wheel travel and road compliance.
Working with suspension specialist TracTive, Kalmar developed a bespoke damper concept featuring a third element and adaptive lift, adjusting valving every millisecond. Softer than normal springs are made possible by the car’s low weight and wide valve adaptability, while an adaptive shock absorber length system keeps the car at its optimal ride height at all times. Adjusting that height also alters camber and toe in, letting the car switch character from GT cruiser to full blown sports car at the touch of a button, while a front axle lift function makes city driving and speed bumps considerably less stressful.
Titanium brakes, and downforce without big wings
Braking hardware comes from Carbobrake, which developed 3D printed, lightweight titanium calipers paired with state of the art ceramic discs, with titanium doubling as a heat shield to keep temperatures under control. OEM driving aids including stability management, traction control and ABS remain in place throughout.
Aerodynamics were handled with input from specialist aerotak, using modern CFD simulation to hit over 1,000 kg of peak downforce under braking and close to 2G of lateral force in near perfect balance, all with a drag coefficient of just 0.39. Notably, the design brief specifically ruled out large visible spoilers, pushing the team to rely on underbody ground effect and adaptive ride height instead to generate the numbers.
Carbon fibre everywhere, for a reason
Every body panel on the 9X9 is fully bespoke carbon fibre, a philosophy Kalmar traces back to LMP prototype racecars, prioritising ultimate lightness and easy access to critical components.
The target weight for the lightest Leichtbau version sits at 1,250 kg. Kalmar also plans to offer bodywork made from flax plant fibre with sustainable resin as a further weight and environmental option down the line.
A cabin built by specialists, not an afterthought
Interior design and production were handed to a team of long term Kalmar partners tasked with blending classic DNA with contemporary design. Seats come from Recaro Podium, in lightweight bucket form with bespoke padding tailored to each individual owner. The dashboard mixes analogue and digital, built around an analogue rev counter alongside four individual LCD screens. A hidden, lightweight Bluetooth audio system with active speakers, modern OEM LED lighting, and bonded front glass paired with lightweight polycarbonate rear glass round out a cabin Kalmar describes as clean, intimate and strictly for two.
Homologated for the whole of the EU
The entire development programme was overseen by Germany’s TÜV, which carried out a full single vehicle homologation. As a result, the 9X9 meets modern homologation requirements across all 27 EU member states. Buyers can choose to receive the car as a brand new vehicle under its own VIN, or as a conversion built remotely on a donor Porsche 993, an option that can simplify approval or offer tax advantages depending on the market. Kalmar is explicit that it operates as an engineering company converting a donor car supplied by the customer, rather than as a car manufacturer in its own right, and states clearly that it has no relationship with Porsche AG, whose approval, sponsorship or endorsement is not involved.
What owners actually said after driving it
Kalmar’s own test driver, Dennis Lind, described it as unusual for a racing driver to get into a road car and immediately feel inseparable from it, calling the 9X9 a fantastic machine and crediting the team’s relentless work in meeting his testing goals. Michelin tyre tester Baptiste Grison, who signed off the tyre package for the project, called it a lovely project to work on, praising the car’s performance, lightness, aerodynamics and sound as a complete package, and pointing to it as proof that building a great car does not require an army of engineers, just a small company with talented people and the right partners.
What it costs to make it truly yours
Beyond the base price, Kalmar offers an extensive options list built around the same bespoke philosophy. An extra set of forged magnesium wheels and tyres runs 30,000 euros, a two day track handover session with the factory driver costs 25,000 euros, and a titanium package covering assorted nuts and bolts adds 8,000 euros. At the extreme end, fully exposed carbon bodywork with unmatched joint lines between panels costs 100,000 euros, while full car paint protection film runs 11,000 euros. A no cost lightweight interior package is also available, deleting airbags in favour of a 4-point harness.
From order to handover, entirely in Italy
Once a specification is agreed and signed, Kalmar builds a full rolling chassis in Italy, freezes the final specification, fits and paints the body, completes the interior, and rolls the finished car out, all within what the company calls the heart of Italy’s Motor Valley. Payment is staged across the build: 15 percent at signing, 30 percent a month before work begins, 30 percent once chassis work is finished, 20 percent two weeks before roll out, with the balance due on handover.
Ongoing ownership is designed to stay simple. Kalmar’s dealer network handles routine servicing, with an optional fly out maintenance service available for owners further afield. Service intervals are set at every 10,000 km or two years, and every 9X9 comes with a full year of free upgrades covering any reliability improvements identified after the car has been delivered.
For a project built by a small, largely unknown Danish name, working with partners including Michelin, Recaro, Carbobrake and TracTive, the 9X9 is a genuinely serious piece of engineering hiding behind a very quiet public profile, at least for now.
