Model of the Month - March 2025
A legend…
Porsche has been incredibly successful in motorsports, they have participated in several different competitions, formats and categories… always taking the top step in the podium at least on one occasion.
In 1981 they embarked in a new challenge, they wanted to develop a new version of the forever classic Porsche 911 Carrera to participate in the toughest rally competition of all times, the Group B Rally, however, the development took longer than expected, so it was only until 1984 when Porsche took the first development race cars to the Paris-Dakar Rally.
These development race cars were essentially a 4x4 Porsche 911 with elevated suspension and a 3.2 litter engine, and with these little monsters they took 1st, 6th and 25th place, not bad for the first race, right? These models were internally referred as the 953.
1984 Rothmans Porsche 953. Picture taken from wikipedia.org
One year later, in 1985, Porsche took the new 959 design to the same competition, they kept the same engine used on the 953s one year before, and also the same suspension, but the result couldn’t be more contrasting, as none of the 3 Porsches finished the race.
But for Porsche, one failure is only fuel to feed the fire, they came back in 1986 with the new 959 design, already fitted with new twin-turbochargers and an updated 4-wheel drive; this was enough to take the crown back with a commanding 1-2 finish and a third car in 6th.
1986 Rothmans Porsche 959. Picture taken from dupontregistry.com
These incredible cars were wrapped in the Rothmans livery, and this is not the first time we talk about this legendary livery, our first Model of the Month, the Audi 90 quattro from Hot Wheels was using a homage livery to Rothmans, check out that post HERE.
Rothmans was a British tobacco brand that is still in the market under the name Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, and they had a huge sponsorship deal in Motorsports, specially with Porsche, back in the day when tobacco companies could still sponsor sports.
The Rothmans livery is a classic, not only because of the results obtained by the cars that were wrapped in it, but also, because it is one of the most beautiful designs ever seen.
Taking inspiration…
Porsche is always innovating, but there’s no argument, they are also a company that takes pride in their heritage. The lines of the Porsche 911 have evolved with time, but the shape and the engine location are still the same.
So whenever Porsche wants to create something new, they also give a look to the past. And in the case of rally, well, they went to the 953/959s models that were so successful at the beginning of the program.
They took inspiration from these classic monsters and brough back a rally performance oriented car.
Enter the 2023 Porsche 911 Dakar.
2023 Porsche 911 Dakar. Source unknown.
The Dakar Rally is one of the toughest tests of endurance in the automotive industry, and Porsche’s idea was to create a car that could do it all; paying homage to the predecessor, the 911 Dakar can be driven in an African Safari but then you can go to Le Mans and then be in London ready for the theatre in the evening.
If having this beastly capabilities available was not enough, Porsche also has available the “Rallye Design Package”, which as you probably already guessed it, looks similar to the Rothmans’ livery.
2023 Porsche 911 Dakar "Rallye Design Package". Picture taken from motortrend.com
Currently we know that tobacco companies are vanished from Motorsports Sponsorship, so, in order to make up for this deficiency, Porsche created an internal “brand” of sorts called “Roughroads”.
The 911 Dakar has a base ground clearance 50 mm higher than the standard 911 model, but if the terrain gets too tight below the car, the lift system can raise it another 30 mm, were the maximum speed could be 170 km/h. Imagine, running 80 mm clearer than any order Porsche 911 and still be capable of reaching 170 km/hr.
The Rallye package, besides the already mentioned heritage livery, can come with a roof basket with auxiliary headlights and some other accessories that can be fitted on it.
Mini GT knows that this Rally car revival has excited the Porsche enthusiasts and the car lovers in general, and that’s why they decided to reproduce it as soon as it was announced.
Because of the mix of modern and old worlds, the heritage (mentioned several times) and the undeniable looks, we are choosing the Mini GT – Porsche 911 Dakar with the Rallye Design Package as our winner of the month.
How does the model look?
The design in general shows accurate proportions as the usual Mini GT cars. And this specific edition comes with the roof rack and some of the accessories.
By the sides of the car, in the front and back, you will be able to see the reinforced steel plates that are there for a higher protection of the car when you take it for a spin on the “rough roads”.
The profile of the Dakar let us see the “Roughrodes Porsche” branding and the number 185 of top of a gentian blue livery, and the white 5-spoke rims with the Porsche logo make a beautiful contrast with the blue.
You have acrylic inserts in the headlights and some detailed air intakes in the front grill and the hood.
The side mirrors are separate pieces of bendable plastic.
In the back you’ll see a bar light painted, the Porsche 911 Dakar batch, and and exhaust system that is part of the reinforced steel plate in the back.
The interior looks like black leather and there is no visible roll cage.
All in all, an exceptional model with virtually no flaws that could fall into almost any collection; race cars, rally cars, sports car, you name it, there is no going wrong with this one.
In terms of size or scale, when compared to the Hot Wheels release of last year, you see that they have similar proportions, but the basic model from Hot Wheels has of course less details and looks a little higher from the ground .
There was another release from Mini GT, the Shade Green version, and it doesn’t look bad at all, but if you want to have a modern piece of history of the Porsche brand, this is the model to get.
