It is no one’s secret that Porsche vehicles prefer smooth tarmac to any other kind of road surface, but German rally legend Walter Röhrl has an entire history of proving otherwise.
Röhrl has collaborated with the Zuffenhausen-based luxury automaker to show us that Porsche cars make ideal rally rides with a bit of tuning applied.
Ten years ago, the company actually did the same when it sent its one-off Cayenne Transsyberia SUV to a hardcore rally tournament, aiming to prove to the entire world what the apparent soft-roader really can do.
Back in 1984, a Porsche 953 won the famous Paris-Dakar Rally. It was technically the world’s first 911 with all-wheel drive. Its iconic livery quickly became known throughout the world.
Then there was the Porsche 924 GTS, which claimed gold at the Rally Deutschland and demonstrated us the advantages of having a turbocharged engine under the hood, rather than a naturally aspirated one.
The list continues with the Porsche 911 SC, later renamed to Safari 911, that participated in the Kenyan Safari Rally in 1978. One of the two crews had to leave the race due to unresolvable technical difficulties, while the other was the second to cross the finish line.
Finally, the Porsche 911.996 GT3 that the Röhrl couple drives has just won the German rally tournament.