[HN Gopher] The 1986 Paris-Dakar rally (2021)
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       The 1986 Paris-Dakar rally (2021)
        
       Author : asyncscrum
       Score  : 73 points
       Date   : 2023-01-14 13:35 UTC (9 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.hagerty.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.hagerty.com)
        
       | dclowd9901 wrote:
       | This years Dakar has felt so sanitized and corporate, I'm a bit
       | sad by the series' progression. And not a single car in the
       | lineup. I will say the Audi team's raid car is absolutely one of
       | the coolest things I've ever seen, though.
        
       | insane_dreamer wrote:
       | Is Dakar Rally relevant anymore? Certainly doesn't seem so
       | compared to the Paris-Dakar races I remember from the 70s and
       | 80s.
        
         | smm11 wrote:
         | It's way, way toned down these days. Like most things, "back in
         | the day" was much harder and hobbled by poor tech and whatnot.
         | Early Tour de France editions had stages far longer than now,
         | on dirt roads, riders carried their own spare parts, and some
         | had to weld bikes back together.
        
       | jansan wrote:
       | Rally in the 80s until 1986 was insane. There was the class B
       | with some of the most powerful rally cars ever built. If you see
       | older insane rally videos, it is usually from class B.
       | 
       | The Porsche 959 never participated in group B races, and it would
       | have been really interesting to see it competing with Audi
       | Quattro and Lancia Delta.
       | 
       | unfortunately in 1986 there were several tragic accidents,
       | resulted in the end of group b.
       | 
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_B
       | 
       | Here are some scenes from group B that give a feeling how intense
       | and dangerous it was.
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRtyT9WQzdY
        
         | sandermvanvliet wrote:
         | I think the most crazy thing to enter Dakar was the DAF Turbo
         | Twin. https://www.carhutt.com/daf-95-turbotwin-x1/
         | 
         | 2400bhp in a truck... See this video of it overtaking one of
         | the rally cars to get an idea how truly crazy that machine was:
         | https://youtu.be/DDGbtUsTv24
        
           | tomatotomato37 wrote:
           | That wasn't one of the rally cars, that was the _lead_ rally
           | car, going over 200 km /h over ungraded sand. One of my
           | favorite points in motoracing history.
           | 
           | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUnWnx_rdps
        
           | dsfyu404ed wrote:
           | HP to weight isn't really useful beyond the point where you
           | can put it to the ground. Notice how the truck is doing most
           | of the gaining and overtaking in the rougher sections where
           | it can keep better ground contact than the car.
        
         | z303 wrote:
         | I've been a fan of the 959 since seeing the Tamiya version. I'd
         | love for them to re-release the kit so I can finally own one
         | 
         | https://youtu.be/jtODx2kGq0E
         | 
         | https://tamiyabase.com/tamiya-models/58059
        
         | grubbs wrote:
         | Always enjoyed this documentary on the topic: "Too fast to
         | race"
         | 
         | https://youtu.be/imXk8u-reUQ
        
       | marban wrote:
       | Bill's 959 Story: https://www.motorbiscuit.com/bill-gates-
       | illegal-porsche-sat-...
        
       | capableweb wrote:
       | > In the truck class, the surprise winners [in the 1986 rally]
       | were Giacomo Vismara and Giulio Minelli in the Mercedes support
       | truck for the Honda of Italy bike team.
       | 
       | The Dakar Rally is such a crazy event, and that a support team
       | can also win, even if the team they were supported didn't, or
       | even had to retire before reaching the finish line.
       | 
       | What others sports could you even achieve something like that?
        
         | dsfyu404ed wrote:
         | >What others sports could you even achieve something like that?
         | 
         | Pretty much every off road race where the organizers choose the
         | course so that most of of the finishers podium winds up with
         | crazy upsets like that.
        
         | wjnc wrote:
         | Long distance running! Sometimes hares get impatient. [1]
         | 
         | [1] https://www.archyde.com/a-hare-wins-a-marathon-and-
         | qualifies...
        
         | dmurray wrote:
         | Cycling is the obvious example - it's completely reasonable to
         | go into a race as a support rider but end up, say, in a
         | breakaway group that was successful while the team captain
         | stayed with the main peloton.
         | 
         | It's not possible to win a whole tour that way, but if you
         | build up a lead over your captain in the first few stages, your
         | director might decide to switch tactics and have the team
         | support you after that.
        
           | mpol wrote:
           | The Vuelta of Spain was supposed to be a win for Bradley
           | Wiggins, but his support Chris Froome faired much better.
           | After Kobo lost, at the jury table, the win was awarded to
           | Froome, then a support cyclist.
        
         | slim wrote:
         | Also Mercedes unimog is a beast
        
           | dsfyu404ed wrote:
           | <eyes roll loop in head>
           | 
           | It's a road capable tractor (for generous definitions of road
           | capable, nobody who actually gushes over them would consider
           | them fit for road use) that has an internet following.
           | 
           | If the vehicle type were widely useful outside of very few
           | very specific niches it would be prolific and more OEMs would
           | make them.
        
       | tiahura wrote:
       | This was a big deal back in the day. I remember watching the
       | Today Show with mom (miss you) and them doing a segment on the
       | race and the 959.
        
       | marban wrote:
       | If you have some cash to spend, the 911 was just released in a
       | limited Dakar edition, incl. the OG Rothmans decals. Work of art.
        
         | TacticalCoder wrote:
         | 200 K EUR at least, if you can manage to fetch one. At only
         | 2500 units they're unlikely to be sold at Porsche dealerships
         | to non-Porsche customers.
         | 
         | As a funny anecdote a friend of mine managed to buy a Porsche
         | Cayman GT4 RS (not just GT4 but GT4 RS) from an official
         | Porsche dealership because he said he wanted one _before
         | Porsche even announced they would create that model_. _" I want
         | to order a Porsche Cayman GT4 RS"_ / _" But sir that car
         | doesn't exist"_ / _" I don't care, they'll certainly make one.
         | If want to book it now"_.
         | 
         | And he got it a few months ago : )
        
         | smprather wrote:
         | I'm not even a "car guy" but I sure would love to have one of
         | those GT40's from Ford vs. Ferrari. (With a working door :))
        
           | TacticalCoder wrote:
           | > I'm not even a "car guy" but I sure would love to have one
           | of those GT40's from Ford vs. Ferrari. (With a working door
           | :))
           | 
           | Ah... I looked into that.
           | 
           | Good news: Ford sold the rights and the tooling for the GT40
           | (and hence lost the right to use the name "GT40", which is
           | why their modern "GT40" is called simply "Ford GT") and a
           | company called "Superformance" still creates new Fort GT40,
           | which are nearly entirely compatible, parts for parts, with
           | the original ones.
           | 
           | The Superformance cars are more than "replicas": they like to
           | call their cars "continuation cars" (for they're made with
           | the original tooling and they do own the rights to produce
           | the GT40 and AC Cobras).
           | 
           | It's not the "real" thing in that they aren't from the
           | 60s/70s, but then you can have one for 100 K (Superformance
           | AC Cobra) or 200 K (Superformance GT40) instead of millions.
           | 
           | I've got a few cars and _may_ buy a Superformance AC Cobra at
           | some point. They even have the old Carroll Shelby chassis
           | number starting with  "CSX". The other AC Cobra replicas
           | don't get to have a chassis starting with the elusive
           | "CSX...".
        
         | dclowd9901 wrote:
         | Is there a 959 version? Those cars are absolutely astonishing
        
           | marban wrote:
           | Sure, if you have 7 figures to spare. Best story:
           | https://www.motorbiscuit.com/bill-gates-illegal-porsche-
           | sat-...
        
             | toss1 wrote:
             | Yup. Pretty outrageous. I don't think it is custom's place
             | to decide if the owner is gong to drive it on the public
             | roads or only on the track. That should be up to the state
             | Motor Vehicle Departments whether to grant it
             | roadworthiness certs and license plates, or not.
             | 
             | He should have been able to import it and at least sit it
             | in his driveway, or take it to the track, even if he can't
             | drive it to work. There are plenty of purpose-built
             | racecars that are street-illegal; they get towed to the
             | track and have fun.
             | 
             | Now, if he'd filled out the paperwork stating it was a road
             | car, then likely US DOT rules came into play, but still,
             | seems not the place of customs to enforce since there are
             | legal options.
        
             | dclowd9901 wrote:
             | Oops lol for some reason I thought the person I was
             | replying to was talking about a die-cast model or
             | something! Of course the 959 is basically completely out of
             | reach for a pleb like me.
        
               | marban wrote:
               | Porsche Item No. WAP0219590NRLL
        
       | markonen wrote:
       | I vividly remember how Ari Vatanen won the 1987 event in a
       | Peugeot 205 (I was in elementary school). On the heels of the
       | rally success he went on to become the PR face of Big Milk for
       | the next decade or so.
        
       | jbandela1 wrote:
       | > Back in 1977, while riding a Yamaha XT 500 in the Abidjan-Nice
       | Rally, a wealthy French motorcycle racer named Thierry Sabine got
       | lost in the Libyan desert.
       | 
       | The Libyan desert is a very dangerous place. Cambyses son of
       | Cyrus the Great ended up losing an entire army of tens of
       | thousands of men in the Libyan desert. The army was never found.
       | Later Alexander the Great also got lost in the Libyan desert and
       | was only saved because he was able to see and follow some ravens.
        
       | skywal_l wrote:
       | Balavoine was a once in a generation talent. He was a great
       | singer but more importantly an exceptional composer right next to
       | Goldman.
       | 
       | He died at 36 and still he was able to write so many memorable
       | songs.
       | 
       | Lady Marlene is not the most popular but I have fond memories of
       | it.
        
         | WastingMyTime89 wrote:
         | > Balavoine [...] once in a generation talent [...] right next
         | to Goldman
         | 
         | That's a very loose definition of talent you have. There is a
         | reason people think the 80s is a lost decade. We are talking
         | about a terrible period in a country known for the general
         | awfulness of its pop music.
         | 
         | Still a tragic and very unfortunate event.
        
         | glandium wrote:
         | When I saw the title, without opening the article, my first
         | thought went to Balavoine. 1986 was tough, between the loss of
         | Balavoine and that of Coluche. I was only 8, and they are the
         | only memories I have from that year. (not that I have many
         | memories from the surrounding years)
        
       | zokier wrote:
       | Has Dakar spent dramatically more money on (social media)
       | marketing this year? Seems like they are popping up all over the
       | place in a way the didn't in the past... I very much doubt its
       | all organic
        
       | zabzonk wrote:
       | i thought this was the one that mark thatcher got lost in (but
       | was unhappily found again) but unfortunately it was not.
        
       | asyncscrum wrote:
       | > Baron fell into a coma, from which he never awoke. He passed in
       | 2010.
       | 
       | I hadn't known that Baron was in a coma for 24 years after this.
        
       | ur-whale wrote:
       | > Back in 1977, while riding a Yamaha XT 500
       | 
       | This bike is a legend.
       | 
       | I used to ride one when I was younger.
       | 
       | Fond memories of that fat 500cc mono.
        
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       (page generated 2023-01-14 23:01 UTC)