This week, the capital of France will host a very interesting event dedicated to the history of the Paris-Dakar rally, now simply called “Dakar”. But on December 28, 1978, the participants in the first such race set off from Paris, and on January 14, 1979, those who managed to complete the entire distance finished in Dakar, the capital of Senegal.
The unique car show is called Retromobile 2024 and the main idea is to remind the public how the now legendary rally attack started and how automotive thinking has developed over the past almost half a century. The exhibition, which starts on January 31, will feature vehicles from different years, both four- and two-wheeled, that took part in these rally raids.
The Retromoblie 2024 festival will take place until February 4 at the Paris Expo.
Fans will see many interesting things, for example, a modest Renault 4L, in which the French racer Claude Marrot and his brother Bernard took 2nd place in the very first Dakar. The car was prepared for the rally by Sinpar and of course equipped with four-wheel drive.
There will be many more cars that are sure to turn heads, including a special version of the Porsche 959 sports car, in which Rene Metge, who won this rally three times, and Jacqui Ickx, a former racer, successfully competed in the Dakar halfway through the 80s Formula 1. Metge passed away on January 3, 2024, just before the start of the 46th Dakar, and 79-year-old Jacqui Ickx will meet fans during the festival in Paris.
You can also mention the Nissan
Among the heroes of the recently held Dakar, the festival will include Stéphane Peterhansel, who achieved his 80th victory in the stages of this rally raid in 2024, and Sebastien Loeb, who lost at the finish only to Carlos Sainz, Peterhansel’s teammate in the Audi factory team and Toyota racer Guillaume de Mevius. Of course, the fantastic electric car Audi RS Q e-tron will also be present at the fair.
And Sebastien will present to the public the first version of the Dacia off-road prototype, prepared by the British company Prodrive, with which the 9-time world rally champion will start in Dakar next year.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
