Porsche is celebrating the end of 911 Dakar production with a one-off ‘Sonderwunsch’ special edition.
First unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show in 2022, the radical, off-road-capable 911 Dakar became the biggest talking point at the event.
Despite a huge amount of customer interest, Porsche capped production of the high-riding sports car to 2,500 examples.
Appropriately, the 911 Dakar is going out on a high, with a one-off model personalised to the exact specification of its new Italian owner.
A unique exterior livery
Porsche’s Sonderwunsch (special wishes) department was responsible for creating this eye-catching 911 Dakar, including its unique triple-tone paint job.
The process started with the commissioning owner specifying the Rallye Design package. This usually pays tribute to the livery on the Rothmans-sponsored Porsche 953, which won the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1984.
For this bespoke 911, however, Signal Yellow and Gentian Blue Metallic were chosen for the contrasting body colours.
Between them is a thin painted blue line. This is actually a new hue, named Lampedusa Blue after the Mediterranean island near Italy, and developed in collaboration with the Porsche’s owner.
Not so mellow yellow
Signal Yellow makes a further appearance on the spokes of the Dakar’s alloy wheels, while Lampedusa Blue outlines the rims.
The same blue colour appears on the rings surrounding the LED Matrix headlights, while the owner has specified the front and rear stainless steel skid plates in black.
Yellow is the dominant theme inside the final 911 Dakar: used for the dashboard trim strips and stitching for the leather upholstery. Porsche’s Speed Yellow is found on the gear selector for the eight-speed PDK transmission, along with the model name embroidered on the headrests.
When the doors of the Dakar are opened, puddle lights project the Sonderwunsch department logo onto the ground.
The end of the trail
Beneath its bespoke body, the 911 Dakar is mechanically unaltered. This means a twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre flat-six engine serving up 480hp and 420lb ft of torque. Combined with suspension raised by 50mm, it makes the Porsche more than capable of off-road action.
When MR’s Tim Pitt tested the Dakar in 2023, he commented: ‘Ploughing through knee-deep muddy ruts and wading through water holes feels incongruous – even slightly absurd – in a 911, but you can’t fail to be impressed by the Dakar’s sheer breadth of ability’.
It remains to be seen if the owner of the final 911 Dakar will be brave enough to get his special hand-painted livery dirty.
Before it ventures out, the final Dakar will be on display in the foyer of the Porsche Museum, following a special handover event at the Zuffenhausen factory.
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