The Last Porsche 911 Dakar Is a One-of-a-Kind Ode to a Legendary Rally Champ

Porsche is saying goodbye to the 911 Dakar with a custom one-off inspired by the race from which it takes its name.

The German marque has just pulled back the curtain on the 2,500^th and final example of its off-road-ready sports car. The vehicle is a Sonderwunsch special edition that pays tribute to the modified 911 that won the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1984.

Why that car? The 953-generation 911 driven by René Metge and Dominique Lemoyne was the first Porsche to win the world’s most challenging off-road race. Over four hundred competitors started the sixth edition of the rally—which passed through Ivory Coast, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Mauritania—including three 911s, each of which would complete the course and place in the top thirty.

The Sonderwunsch 911 Dakar, which was commissioned by an unnamed Italian collector, isn’t an exact replica of Metge and Lemoyne’s car, but its tri-color livery is meant to echo that of the victorious racer. The lower portion of vehicle and its racing stripe has been painted Gentianbluemetallic and the upper section Signalyellow, with a flowing stripe of Lampedusablue between the two primary hues. Impressively, all three colors were applied by hand. The gorgeous color carries over to the wheels, which are done up in Signalyellow and Lampedusablue, and the interior, which features all three shades. Particularly striking are all the Signalyellow accents inside the cabin, especially the contrast stitching and the “911 Dakar” lettering embroidered into the headrests of the car’s sport seats.

Left untouched is the powertrain, and with good reason. The 911 Dakar is powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter flat-six found in the GTS. The mill makes 473 hp and 420 ft lbs of torque, which is routed to all four wheels via an eight-speed PDK gearbox. That’s enough to get drivers from zero to 62 mph in just 3.4 seconds and to reach a top speed of 170 mph.  The car also features a recalibrated suspension that includes a lift system that boosts ride height by 3.2 inches compared to the standard 911.

So, is this really the end of the 911 Dakar? For this generation, yes. But since it appears that Porsche had little trouble selling through the variant’s 2,500-car production run it wouldn’t be that much of a surprise to see it return in the future. For now, this example will be on display at the marque’s museum in Stuttgart, Germany, before being delivered to its owner.

Click here for more photos of the final Porsche 911 Dakar.