With motorcycle technology
Yes, some things were better in the past. For example, the Paris-Dakar Rally, back when it still ran from Paris through half of Africa, not through some touristy corners of Saudi Arabia. The first event, organised by Thierry Sabine and started at the end of 1978, was still a wild ride of a few madmen who ventured on an adventure with almost standard off-road vehicles and enduros, the outcome of which they could not have foreseen. Cyril Neveu won on a Yamaha among the motorbikes, and the three gentlemen Genestier, Lemordant and Terbiaut on a Range Rover among the cars. In 1981, a Range Rover won again, this time driven by René Metge, who would later lead Porsche to Dakar victories. By 1983 at the latest, when Jacky Ickx and Mercedes entered the fray, the Dakar had become more and more professional, and anyone who wanted to be at the front of the field needed a decent budget.
But there were always a few small, private teams, especially in France, that built great vehicles for the Dakar at a high level. The brothers Pascal and Dominique Vigneron, for example, were already known in the early 80s for their Range Rover conversions; one of their ‘Halt’up’ vehicles made it to second place in 1984. But because the two Frenchmen did such a good job, they repeatedly had to let their flagship projects go: Gabreau built the works team for Mitsubishi (the most successful brand with 12 victories), and former Formula 1 driver Patrick Tambay was poached by Jean Todt to join Peugeot – taking the sponsor with him. But ‘Halt’up’ was not worried. The Dakar is not just a job, but more of an addiction.
In 1990, the French built another Range Rover that was very unusual. The chassis was developed by Ignasi Bulto, son of the founder of the Spanish motorcycle brand Bultaco, and was definitely inspired by the famous trial motorbikes. A 4.2-litre V8 engine, which produced 280 hp and took the Range Rover off-road to over 200 km/h, was used to power it. Four examples were built, Servia/Puig took the class victory (T2) at the Dakar, followed in second place by Bulto/Termens in the vehicle we are showing here, the prototype with chassis number 01. In 1992, Patrick Tambay tried his hand at the Dakar again with exactly this Range Rover, but had to give up with transmission problems (Santana…). The 01 car contested its last race in 2000. It was restored from 2022 and returned to its 1991 Dakar form. Bonhams will now auction the extraordinary Range Rover in Paris in February 2025, with at least 70,000 euros expected. It’s easy to imagine that this thing is really fun. Except maybe at the petrol station, the tank holds 260 litres.
Other exciting racing cars can be found in our archives.
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