The 2023 Dakar Rally ended a few weeks ago. The event (which we covered extensively) was won by a Toyota Hilux. The grueling off-road race is usually won by an all-terrain vehicle of some sort, but the 1986 Paris-Dakar Rally was won by a sportscar. In fact, that same team claimed a 1-2. The Porsche 959 Dakar will go down in history as one of the race’s most unlikely winners. And now one of the cars has undergone a full restoration.

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Unlikely Winners

Porsche has a storied motorsport history. The company leads the list of all-time wins at the 24 Hour of Le Mans. It has countless victories on circuits all over the world. It has one of the finest one-make series of all time. And it has a few Dakar Rally wins to its name.

Click here to check out five of the best one-make race series of all time.

The German automaker claimed an overall victory in 1984 with the Porsche 953, at its very first attempt no less. None of its cars finished the ’85 race which is why the works team came back with a vengeance to take 1-2 and 6th places overall. René Metge and Dominique Lemoyne won the race with Jacky Ickx and Claude Brasseur in second.

More below the gallery…

  • Porsche 959 Dakar that won the 1986 race
  • A trio of Porsche 959 Dakar racers on the event in 1986
  • Much of the original 959 racer remains

Making it New

Porsche’s Heritage and Museum team have decided to restore the car that took second place at the 1986 Paris-Dakar Rally. “The winning car remains untouched and we keep it in a kind of time capsule, so to speak, with all of the physical traces of the rally preserved for as long as possible,” explains Kuno Werner, head of the museum workshop.

Click here to check out the recently introduced Porsche 911 Dakar road car.

The 959 Dakar was transformed into a rally raider in a few ways. Engineers reinforced the suspension with double dampers on the front wheels and fitted all-terrain tyres. An electro-hydraulically controlled centre differential distributed the power variably between the front and rear axles. 

Check out more off-roading Porsche racecars at this link.

The off-road racer was powered by a flat-six engine with compound turbocharging. This was a similar configuration to the road-going 959. Low quality fuel necessitated a power reduction to 294 kW. The Porsche 959 Dakar was able to reach speeds of up to 210 km/h.

Staying True

Porsche Classic dismantled, overhauled and reassembled the engine, gearbox and drivetrain for the project. All the parts showed little or no damage. “The car was in very good condition, with no major defects or corrosion. As with any restoration with the specific mission of preserving as much substance as possible, the team looked at each part individually and made partial repairs where this was unavoidable. Many of the original parts had near-series production prototype status,” Werner concludes.

Learn more about the Porsche 959 Dakar in the videos below. Please use the social media buttons below to share this post with other Porsche and/or motorsport enthusiasts.