Twelve months ago, in the December 2022 Famous Last Words, I wrote about the exciting new Porsche 911 Dakar that was about to be released. This limited-edition model evokes the first overall victory by Porsche in the Paris-Dakar Rally, a 1984 racing success which incidentally also coincided with the birth of all-wheel drive in the Porsche 911.
The New Porsche 911 Dakar – Dec 2022
As I mention in the article, it’s a very exciting car and one that has generated a great deal of emotion and interest around the world, so it wasn’t surprising to me to see a recent Porsche Promotional Video celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the first presentation of the iconic 911 using the Porsche Dakar and the Porsche 911 GT3 RS as the star cars.
Filmed in the South Australian outback and featuring some classic desert roads and the state’s fastest race circuit, the video follows Brand Ambassador Mark Webber and 1998 24 Hours of Le Man winner and World Endurance Legend Stéphane Ortelli, as they deliver a special birthday gift.
For the tech heads and enthusiasts, the 353 kW (480 PS) 911 Dakar, driven by Webber in the video, features an extra 50 millimetres of ground clearance thanks to a retuned chassis, and specially developed Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus tyres for advanced rough-terrain grip and durability. The Bend Motorsport Park outside Adelaide hosted some spectacular performance laps by Ortelli, who deployed all 386 kW (525 PS) of the motorsport-derived 911 GT3 RS on the 7.7-kilometre track when utilising the 911 GT3 RS’s Track mode under controlled conditions.
‘Rallying into the 60th Anniversary of the Porsche 911’
According to Porsche – “After 60 years the Porsche 911 remains the definitive sports car, it stands for more than performance and design; it is driving in its most beautiful form,” and I don’t think I can argue with that.