Retro Rally Raid: The Story Of The First Dakar Classic

For four decades and counting, the Dakar Rally has been host to the widest variety of vehicles in any form of motorsport in the world. From VW Bugs to Porsche 959s, the BMW GS to the KTM 450 Rally, Mercedes Gs to jacked-up Peugeot 405s, and every type of buggy, truck, and tube-framed prototype in between, the infamously difficult rally raid has been the target of many a manufacturer and competitor. The modern version is still chock full of brave and talented nuts racing on bikes, trucks, cars, and buggies, but this year added even more variety, and marked a significant step in the rally’s history with the inclusion of the first-ever Classic category. The inaugural edition saw 24 teams take on the terrain of Saudi Arabia over a nearly two-week period of competition that ran in a parallel route to the main event that began and ended in Jeddah. Range Rovers, Unimogs, Land Cruisers, Mitsu Monteros, and more took on the desert in a live action display of Dakar history. Petrolicious caught up with I