Total 911 recounts the story behind a famous picture from Porsche’s past…

Written by Kieron Fennelly

Photograph courtesy of Porsche Corporate Archives

In the 1980s one of Porsche’s wilder motorsport adventures was the Paris-Dakar rally. After several unsuccessful attempts to win the East African Safari rally, the ‘Dakar’, formerly the Nice-Abidjan event, appealed to pioneering spirits at Weissach.

During its early years, the Dakar was usually won by lumbering 4x4s. René Metge’s victory in a Range Rover in 1981 and Jacky Ickx’s in a Mercedes-Benz G Wagen in 1983 were typical. However, the Belgian, at 38 and near the end of his career, had other ideas and approached Porsche where he’d long been a favourite. The company was working on a 4x4 super car, spurred by the success of Ferdinand Piëch’s Audi Quattros, and Helmuth Bott and Peter Falk saw an opportunity to launch the coming 959 in Group B competition.