Why Is This Mercedes SUV Wearing Rothmans Porsche Racing Colors?
17 years before the Cayenne Porsche needed a fast SUV
The year was 1985 and Porsche was taking their 959 rallying. In addition to WRC Porsche also competed in desert rallies like the famous Dakar. A lesser know event called the Pharaoh rally was contested in Egypt and was seen as a tune up for the Dakar. What does all of this have to do with a Mercedes SUV? Simple, Porsche needed a fast support vehicle for their 959s.
Porsche's own engineers built the vehicle. They started with a AMG-built Mercedes 280 GE 5.6 Sport. Being Porsche they threw out all the bits they found ill-suited to their task including the Mercedes engine. In its place they used a 5.0 Liter V8 out of the 928 S4. Their intent was to have a support vehicle capable of keeping up with their 959 should they hit trouble. They succeeded as the support truck crossed the finish second only trailing the rally winning 959.
#Motorsport #Porsche #Mercedes #V8 #SUV #Rally #959 #G-Class #ShiftingLanes
Join In
Comments (5)
the 959 never competed in wrc, apart from the bettega memorial.
And there was not such thing as "AMG" - built Mercedes 280 GE 5.6 Sport back in 1985... Hans-Werner Aufrecht would never have touched a G-Model. All of this happened, when Mercedes purchased AMG completely..
S2motor
Great article, very interesting
That looks awesome