Mud, sweat and gears

There are few cars with bigger shoes to fill than the Porsche 911 Dakar. The Dakar name alone, with the vision of deserts and dunes and the atmosphere of adventure and danger it conjures, is one of the most emotive in all motorsport.

We have of course seen car manufacturers try to use great names from the world of motorsport to sprinkle stardust on unworthy product – the Rover BRM springs quite readily to mind – so Porsche is writing a big cheque by invoking the spirit of the Dakar Rally, or the Paris-Dakar as it was born. It is to be hoped therefore that the car to which the name is now attached has the ability to cash it.

By which I don’t mean go out and win the Dakar, because for a mere road car to do that would be preposterous these days. But it needs to be far more than just a badge, a colour scheme and a few accessories. Implausible though it sounds, it needs to be a fast and capable off-roader, capable of going anywhere any SUV could go, but at rather higher speed. And to keep doing so all the way to Dakar if need be. Because it is not the first 911 to be associated with the world’s toughest rally. So before I spill all the details about the new 911 Dakar, let me fill you in on the car without which it would never have been built. If you want all the gen on the new car, feel free to skip to the end.