Is This Arctic 356 Porsche The Coolest Winterised Car?

A classic Porsche made even cooler thanks to heavy modifications for extreme conditions in snow and ice

Valkyrie Racing’s 356 Porsche has been kitted out to the limit to be capable and competent in harsh Arctic conditions.

Heading to Antarctica, this Porsche 356A isn’t able to rest its bones just yet, even after 65 years of being on this Earth. They may not be the most precious classic cars but a 356 Coupe in good condition can still fetch North of £65,000 at auction and although there will be some purists that won’t be happy about the extensive list of modifications that this particular example has been through, we’re glad to see a classic car be put to good use rather than stored in a centimillionaire’s humidity-controlled garage.

Speaking of good use, this winterised Porsche truly is being used for the greater good. Project 356 World Rally will see this old motor traverse 356 miles of snow and ice in Antarctica all with the aim to raise awareness of and ultimately work towards ending child trafficking.

This 356-mile trek is but one leg in a near-20,000-mile world tour, spearheaded by Renee Brinkerhoff behind the wheel driving around all seven continents. The icy planes of Antarctica provide a totally different challenge, however, which is why they have enlisted the help of Kieron Bradley, a senior chassis design engineer who is also an extreme explorer himself.

Fitted with solar panels to take advantage of Antarctica’s 24 hours of sun at this time of year, the car will be able to continually power its electrical instruments and equipment with minimal chance of running out of juice. An oversized crevasse bar is fitted to the front to shield the car from snow and most noticeably, the front wheels have been replaced with skis and where the rear wheels would normally be, sit a pair of tracks.

They may look cool but the skis and tracks offer a great advantage for the car in terms of weight distribution. With all the equipment that needs to be carried, a fair amount of weight has been added to the already stripped-down Porsche and extra weight means poorer fuel efficiency and more chance of getting stuck. The skis help distribute the weight of the car over a larger surface area, adding superior flotation that is up to 300% improved over 4x4s used in the Antarctic that have 42” tyres.

As the front skis compact the snow, the rear tracks are then able to grip the surface and propel the winterised 356A forward, with the aim to have it glide through the Antarctic without a second thought. Of course, expeditions like this are rarely so simple!

To top things off and make this car even cooler, the whole project aims to be carbon positive, meaning that it will give more back to the planet than what it takes in terms of damage done by emissions, materials and waste.

So, is this the coolest winterised vehicle you’ve ever seen? Let us know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this, you may also like: ‘Bentley Hybrid Covered 455 Miles on One Tank of Biofuel’