MERCEDES-BENZ

THE G CLASS THAT WON THE RALLY PARIS-DAKAR 83

The German brand showed the Mercedes-Benz G Class winner of the 1983 Paris-Dakar Rally at the Detroit Motor Show in 1983, which is exhibited at the American event along with other copies of the Mercedes-Benz G Class. But none of them is as important to the company as the winner of the rally.For the Paris-Dakar winner Mercedes-Benz G Class that appears in the pictures, the unit with the number 142, has the honor of having achieved the best result in the competition to date for the iconic 4 × 4. And that is even more impressive if we take into account that the G Class has been on sale uninterruptedly since 1979. Almost four decades without major changes until the introduction of the new Mercedes-Benz G Class 2019.Throughout all those years, there have been truly incredible versions, both with regard to street cars and competition. We can cite the G 500 4 × 4² and the AMG G 63 6 × 6, in addition to the little-known Mercedes-Benz G Class equipped with a Porsche 928 engine, created by Porsche as a vehicle of
assistance for the 959 all-terrain racing.















But even these can not be compared to the Mercedes-Benz G Class winner of
the Paris-Dakar of 1983. Piloted by Jacky Ickx and with Claude Brasseur as co-driver, this exemplar managed to win with a route of more than 10,000 kilometers between Paris (France) and Dakar (Senegal). A year earlier, in 1982, Ickx and Brasseur finished in second place with this Mercedes-Benz 280 GE, with another 280 GE unit occupying third place.









Unhappy with the result they returned to the charge a year later with a more evolved car. It had a body that was not only lighter thanks to the use of aluminum, but was also more aerodynamic. Mercedes-Benz used a wind tunnel to improve the aerodynamic performance of this G Class with a short chassis.
If there is something that stands out visually of the G Class Paris-Dakar winner is its rear, which features some aerodynamic appendages that considerably widen the ensemble. Underneath the hood is an evolved version of the production gasoline engine, a mechanic that reached at the time a maximum
power of 230 hp.


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