The sports car that swapped the kerb for camel tracks
For six decades the Porsche 911 perfected the art of demolishing mountain passes, race circuits and autobahns.
Then somebody in Stuttgart had a wonderfully unhinged idea.
“What if we took our rear-engined sports car and sent it into the desert?”
Not onto a gravel driveway outside a country house.
An actual desert.
The result was the Porsche 911 Dakar.
A machine that looks like somebody accidentally parked a GT3 in the middle of the Sahara and decided to continue regardless.
Yet beneath the apparent madness lies one of the most interesting collector Porsches of the modern era.
Built as a tribute to Porsche’s victory in the 1984 Paris-Dakar Rally, the Dakar takes the already formidable Carrera 4 GTS platform and turns it into something entirely different.
473bhp from a twin turbo flat six.
570Nm of torque.
0-62mph in 3.4 seconds.
191mm of ground clearance.
Dedicated Rallye and Offroad drive modes.
Specially developed all-terrain tyres.
Underbody protection robust enough to survive encounters that would leave most sports cars requiring counselling.
It is, quite simply, the only supercar that actively encourages you to take the long route home via a forestry commission track.
Production was capped at just 2,500 cars worldwide.
Collectors noticed immediately.
With original UK pricing around £173,000, the market rapidly moved northwards.
Today, median values sit around £258,000, while exceptional examples continue to achieve £350,000 plus, with the strongest cars pushing beyond £400,000.
The most desirable specifications continue to be:
• Rallye Design Package cars.
• Paint To Sample examples.
• Shade Green launch specification cars.
• Rallye Sport Package examples.
• Roof rack equipped cars complete with fuel canisters and auxiliary lighting.
The Porsche 911 Dakar represents something increasingly rare in the modern automotive world.
Originality.
It isn’t trying to be an SUV.
It isn’t pretending to be practical.
It simply asks one wonderfully absurd question.
How much fun can you have if you stop worrying about where a 911 is supposed to go?……..
The answer, it turns out, is rather a lot.
If you’re considering adding a Porsche 911 Dakar to your collection, sourcing the right car is everything. Specification, provenance, mileage and options can significantly influence long-term desirability and market performance.
At Autodrome International we specialise in identifying and sourcing exceptional collector cars globally, whether that’s a delivery mileage Rallye Design example, an elusive Paint To Sample car or the perfect investment-grade Dakar for your collection.
Because finding a Porsche 911 Dakar is relatively easy.
Finding the right Porsche 911 Dakar is an entirely different challenge.