The CRAZIEST thing Porsche ever did!

[@FicarraClassic]

I hope everyone enjoys this little snippet of geeky car history! It's one of my favorites. Viva the Paris-Dakar! Viva VINwiki! Viva Roland Kussmaul!

[@thestarlightalchemist7333]

Your history stories on this channel are fantastic, to the point that, a couple years ago, I actually used your 1965 LeMans video as an example for good storytelling in a school project.

[@RXNFS]

Hey, you're probably already aware of this but you mentioning that G-Wagen reminded me of a video I saw earlier this year. I don't know if it's the same one or a second that was built, but it looks like Porsche still own that G-Wagen! Top Gear's YT released a video about Porsche's "secret stash" about 7 months ago, and it's there. Might also be fun to build another one? 🤔 Thanks for yet another insightful story, I really do love these!

[@slappomatthew]

I grew up watching old Paris -dakar videos with my dad and brother on vhs. I’d love to get some of those old videos to watch. 80s dakar was the greatest race of all times

[@drtone]

00⁰​@@thestarlightalchemist7333

[@marcrains3832]

Great history lesson, thank you!

[@ZagatoZee]

That G Wagon sits proudly in the Porsche museum. Stands out for sure, but looks amazing and deserves to be there.

[@Sean-John]

John's stories are the best and id bet he never runs out of them. He's basically a walking automotive encyclopedia.

[@rasco-chris]

He knows so much about everything. Always a joy listening to him

[@Team33Team33]

Walking plagarism you men. This man ONLY has stories that have already been published WITH footage and all he does it cut the sound track and tell OLD stories based on European TV shows and videos. THAT is how good he is. LOL. As a European it's always surprising to see what shit this guy can come up with.

[@hudsonja]

​@Team33Team33 there's still something to be said for compelling storytelling. Nobody knows everything firsthand, most people learn about things after the fact, just like many of us are learning about it here. It's still interesting to those of us who didn't know it before.

[@Team33Team33]

@@hudsonja Happy for you then. Just pointing out that this guy lives of OLD and heated up news that he copies lock stock and barrel - stealing other's WORK. NOT even editing it.

[@DerUnbbekante]

As a truck guy, I found the pictures with the 4x4, 6x6 and 8x8 support vehicles very interesting. They are all of a prototype 8x8 for the Austrian army that never went into production and most of the 4x4s and 6x6s trucks are very rare KAT III. Like 60ish built as far as i know. I did not know many of those pics. Thank you for including them!

[@Hendric-07]

They are MANs. They are not rare. German Army used them for decades, still does. 4x4 5 Tonner, 6x6 7.5 Tonner, 8x8 10 Tonner. I served 😉

[@DerUnbbekante]

@@Hendric-07 Klar gab es zu ihrer Blütezeit ein paar Tausend KATs bei der BW, aber von den 8x8 SLKW gab es exakt zwei Prototypen für die Österreicher. Der eine, der die Dakar mitgefahren ist, wurde anschließend bei Unicat zum Wohnmobil umgebaut und in den nahen Osten verschifft. Seitdem hat man von den beiden Fahrzeugen nichts mehr gehört. Die KAT III (also normales KAT-Chassis aber mit wassergekühltem R6 und zivilem Fernfahrerhaus) sind auch rare af. Da gibt es eine Handvoll, von denen der Verbleib bekannt ist. Dem entsprechend immer schön, wenn man (für einen persönlich) neue hochauflösende Bilder von den Kfz zu sehen bekommt.

[@greigmackay8465]

A friend of my brother's used to drive one of the support trucks on the Paris Dakar. When the team disbanded, that he drove for, he ended up buying the truck and still has it to this day 😎

[@yvesstocky9936]

@@greigmackay8465 which one is it?

[@greigmackay8465]

@@yvesstocky9936 I don't know, I would have to ask my brother. As I haven't seen it. The guy that has the truck also did support on the camel trophy too as he is really into land rovers as well.

[@tomkopp2115]

John Ficarra porsche stories are the best, thanks john and everyone!

[@VictorRivera1]

John Ficarra is the best VINwiki storyteller ever! I truly enjoy every video that features him on this channel.

[@OneOut1]

Have you forgotten Rabbit ? RIP RABBIT!!

[@VictorRivera1]

True, Rabbit was also a great storyteller. RIP 🙏

[@dompdgaf]

I see John Ficarra, I click , I like, never a question.

[@adamwilson1125]

I went to an off Road Motorcycle school in Utah. If you are a motorcycle adventure geek like me this place is heaven. Anyway there was a mechanic and a pretty cool dude and he said he had worked for a “few teams” when we finally pried it out of him he revealed he had been the lead mechanic on the KTM Dakar Team. The rest of the night the geeks like me listened to his stories with wide eyes and mouths agape. It was rad

[@EdBolian]

Everything about this is amazing. Well told John.

[@FicarraClassic]

Thanks Ed! And thanks for letting me share it on VINwiki!

[@jus__gra]

Knew by the title it would be John Ficcarra sitting in that chair 😄

[@GM55_Manilock]

5:23 We need a story on the Proto-trucks, they were faster than a group b car on the flat zones. search Dakar Truck vs Group B car 1987

[@0783155]

They were wild and unfortunately also a bad accident happened. They had gone too far. My company still uses the trucks for promotional work. They roar past my office very often.

[@edh7492]

That footage of the DAF turbotwin racing and apparently catching the Peugeot 405 T16 concludes with the car leaving the truck behind in the end.

[@GM55_Manilock]

@edh7492 DAF:hold my diesel

[@wigglepuppy]

I live up the street from Canepa and I've seen so many 959s running around for decades. At one point, we counted a bunch of visqueen'd 959s that were being unwrapped and started up. We calculated that we were looking at 20% of all 959s ever produced. This was something I was very excited to see as I was stationed in the 80s in West Germany and once drove behind a flatbed on the Autobahn that had a 959 strapped to it, headed on A8 towards Stuttgart. I fell in love with that car and I'm so glad to see them running around town every so often.

[@lesflynn4455]

Fantastic story Mr Ficarra. Thanks for telling it. In Australia we started to get highlights packages on SBS TV in the mid 80s. I'll never forget the vision of Rothmans sponsored Porsches bouncing across the desert at 220kmh. Followed by large trucks doing 160!

[@telmorrf]

The Portuguese mechanic that raced the dakar in those years with a Portuguese car (the UMM) has some amazing stories to tell...

[@SimuLord]

Happiness is a Ficarra appearance on VinWiki.

[@Vinenz]

YAS. Another Ficarra video. My favorite storyteller.

[@Jerryvtr1730]

I'm from belgium and to us (belgian car people) jacky is a legend. Met him last year next to the porsche at the brussels autoworld.great guy great car 🔥🔥🔥

[@gauravjoshi6310]

John the story was worthwhile. Thanks for sharing the story that was worth of waiting, the delay for getting to this story from you is forgiven in instance 😊

[@biff85ta2]

A John Ficarra story is a story I don't miss. It's not even usually stuff in my wheelhouse but it's usually history being told by someone truly knowledgeable about the subject and passionate which makes it interesting.

[@runsi174]

I much prefer DAF Paris-Dakar story but this one is great because John Ficcara is telling it.

[@kylesonsalla7620]

Not many more awesome videos than that big 4x4 Super Diesel running down a rally car across the desert.

[@Tyindel]

Yep the Turbo Twin is possibly the craziest vehicle to race the dakar, if it wasn't for the video footage, i wouldnt believe if you told me that a truck was capable of keeping pace with a modified Group B rally car

[@runsi174]

@@kylesonsalla7620 that rally car was Peugeot 405 T16, another great one.

[@vincentstuer]

That daf was the peak of rally trucks in my opinion, totally crazy

[@stirfryjedi]

John is 51% of the reasons why I stay subscribed to VinWiki

[@ruipacheco2939]

Yes, John Ficarra as the storyteller! Well done, Monsieur, well done! And thanks for that bit of trivia regarding the G Wagon and the 928 ;). Cheers from Portugal

[@CarLos-yi7ne]

Well, actually I heard this story already, long time ago. Nice one anyway. From the time that the Dakar was still pure. Btw Jacky Ickx was also Formula1 driver from '67 till '79..

[@oneslow8658]

Take a shot everytime he says 959

[@pmx2384]

Underrated comment

[@Resistanceleorange]

Im only 3 minutes in and 6 shots down😵‍💫

[@jkent9915]

I prefer life.

[@MrPig40]

I died

[@matroas]

Finish your drink every time he says ‘paradakar’

[@NCCoder]

Duke has an amazing video series covering each of the "glory" years individually. I was a teenager during said glory years and rally raid was a thing. Such great years to be a fan.

[@benurwin6271]

I met that mechanic. I had a 928 that I worked on when I was in Germany 🇩🇪 2017-2019. I rented a space in a fantastic shared garage that was a converted former Renault service center. They had a “Engine Meister” there who came from Mercedes and worked on all manor of high end euro stuff. He took a look over my 928 and explained the K-Jetronic fuel injection system and told me at the time that they put 928 Engines in G-wagons for the Dakar and he was a mechanic that followed those vehicles. My eyes widened, god status in my eyes.

[@kitko33]

Well, that was a time when De Rooy's truck overtook Ari Vatanen's Peugeot ... for position. For lead. On merit, on track. That truck could hit 200 km/h. Anyway, on the Porsche story... Karel Loprais (won Dakar multiple times in a Tatra truck) remembered Metge's Dakar... "We saw hime repairing something, in a while, he overtook us again... then there he is, repairing something yet again, a while later, he's overtaking us again :)

[@yannjules]

@ficarraclassic Fun fact : I worked with Hubert Rigal some years ago, who finished 3rd in 1986. He used to tell nearly the same story, but it was « how I almost won twice in 1986 » : - when Sabine’s helicopter crashed in a sandstorm (killing 5, including singer Daniel Balavoine and Sabine), 2 of the 959s had broken axles, but the cancellation of the day’s timed section meant they didn’t lose their advance. - the infamous river crossing, as described. The Porsches lost nearly an hour to Rigal, who was patiently waiting after passing the mud through a different path.

[@NadezhdaAndreeva-nt5ox]

This video is so cool! I could watch this all day!

[@timotheegoulet1511]

Porsche, there is no and will never be a Substitute!

[@efariab3820]

John, Thanks for another great Porsche story ! It's always fun to listen to your charming knowledge on automotive history, especially when it comes to very special Porsches of the past . Best, Essy Fariab

[@ckm-mkc]

I remember this clearly as I was living in France at the time - I eventually bought a Pajero (Montero) because of my memories of this time, can't afford a 959 ;-)

[@johngordon7513]

In the days of strong NATO there were many Porsche Club USA members in Europe, attending Factory Drivers Training on Tracks, best Pro Drivers teaching, palling around, joking. 1 of them was Roland, who spoke EN quite well. He had just returned from PD Ralley, had a lot to report.

[@twr41cox]

John is my favorite storyteller on the channel. Thanks guys!

[@EgyptianSahara]

Enjoyed that alot Mr Ficarra. Thank you. Rallye Des Pharaons, first came to life in 1981. Long demanding stages for 2 weeks, a mini Dakar Rally. All sorts of terrain one would see on the way from Paris to Dakar is found in Egypt. There is a well known story that Saeed AlHajri the Qatari driver, had bet/challenged the filming/organization helicopter pilot, in his 959 on one of the stages, as he knew the helicopter had a top speed of 300 kph, and he had some information about it being a high speed stage. This was how fast the 959s went in the 86" Rallye Des Pharaons in Wadi Qena in the Easter desert of Egypt. The name of the Rally itself changed over the years due to ownership, later became Pharoahs Rally with its last edition being 2015. I was a copilot in the 2007 edition in a Cotel Buggy with a PRV engine. The rally in 2007 was 7 stages roughly 3000 km in total compared to the golden years when it was 7-8k km. Cheers from North Africa

[@Bamsebrakar2011]

Us Europeans know the Paris-Dakar and Porsches participation over the years. Still, well told story. In 1981 a French RR Silver Shadow even took part in the Paris Dakar race, but did not finish.

[@etechjd8260]

Should talk about the lada niva ....the underdog touching the top

[@aoife1122]

The Porsche 961 winning its Class at Le Mans in 1986 pales in comparison to 1970 when some French privateers had the funny idea to race Le Mans in a little Porsche 914. Not only did the "Baby Porsche" win its Class, it also put the entire armada of Porsche 911S to shame, finishing in P6 overall (only yielding to the "Big Boys", prototype-like Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512). 😉

[@4huricane]

Jacky Ickx also Finished 7th and 5th in a Lada Samara back in 1990-1991 which had Porsche 959 driveline

[@Alkemyst426]

John Ficarra = WATCH IT NOW! And I wasn't disappointed AGAIN...love these stories...

[@floyd_v10]

I thought this looked interesting from the thumbnail, knew it was going to be good when I saw John! Love these stories

[@bertelli1975]

If you want to learn more about the legend that is kussmaul, he's written a book - kussmauls chronicles. He's an old man now, but still owns the prototype 996 GT3 RS.

[@darkfather1152]

The best porsche storyteller of all time!

[@enitalp]

Dakar, before the GPS era, used to be fun. It's like the Camel Trophy, and Top Gear, all goes to sh*t.

[@marvindebot3264]

Raids are the ultimate motorsport. Maybe not for spectators but for competitors and manufacturers, nothing beats a raid. If a car can survive that, let alone win it is a quality product. If a driver/navigator survives it, he/she is a superman. Motorsport in general builds heroes, raids build Gods.

[@KGdoingthings]

My Monday just got better

[@guillermoperezsantos]

Jacky Ickx is the GOAT of all the GOATS, PERIOD

[@kurtwomack6473]

Great reference material for model builders! I built the 959, getting engine pictures is almost impossible, never saw @12:45 before. The Unimog @9:00 have the kit! Enjoyed your video.

[@Hendric-07]

Always great stuff ! Keep it up ! - They‘re doing a Dakar Classic now alongside the serious race. You see some Rothmans cars there. I think it’s fun. Cheers from Germany.

[@Dale_Ross97]

Ficarra is getting to Rabbit level of story telling

[@thechrisnels9955]

Mr. John ficarra rolls on here. Imma listen ❤❤

[@DrewskisBrews]

This story deserves a full-length book! (If it hasn't already been written? )

[@PeterWilliamson-wr1db]

This is an epic story told by a legendary gentleman

[@youtube-handle-are-a-joke]

As a kid every year I was watching the race, I remember a 959 hitting a very large rock hidden behind a small dune a the car coming out with a massive toe in, I can't remember which race or year it was though. In that helicopter crash was also the most popular and notorious French singer of the time Daniel Balavoine, in France it was a huge shock. I still remember watching on TV the search, the speculations, the hope of finding everybody alive, it lasted for hours. I used to know a racer who was there at the time, racing for the Land Rover team. He told me how everybody was devastated.

[@f.h.9606]

14:08 "His legacy lives on today with the Dakar Rallye that always run in Saudi Arabia" I'd like to correct this resume. "His legacy is constantly beeing shit on by the Amaury Sports Organization (ASO) who sold the race to the highest bidder, which is Saudi Arabia. While at the same moment the Africa Eco Race is still organizing a race from France to Dakar every year and thereby keeping the lagacy of the original Paris-Dakar Rallye and Thierry Sabine alive." There, fixed it for you.

[@jaykruze06]

Chills. Great story.

[@rogerama]

It is curious that, later on, they would return in a certain way, since a large part of those 959 would be used to build the "Soviet" Lada Samara.

[@MongoFlowofConciousness]

I recall a Road&Track article about Goodwood(?) where the driver of the Rothman 959 passed another Porsche at speed on the inside in the dirt because he could.

[@christophermichaels]

Perfectly told as always my friend! I had plans to compete in this race in Malle Moto a few years ago and it remains the ultimate motorsports event of the world in my opinion.

[@Fredcougar73]

That video brought back a lot of memories for me. I remember going to see all the vehicles as a kid when they were going through France and watching the daily summary on TV after school.

[@mathai_9150]

If there is one car company you don't want to mess with, it's definitely Porsche

[@RDEnduro]

I never knew about the 3.2 engines in the 959, enjoyed the story and want Roland interviewed! Can it happen?

[@ragereset2795]

He's still alive, Porsche just honoured him last year for his 80th birthday. The man from Baden-Württemberg was project and racing manager for the German Rally Championship in 1981. In just two months, Kussmaul built the 924 Carrera GTS for Walter Röhrl to race in the event. “The 20 years of working together with Roland was definitely one of the highlights of my life. He’s the best mechanic, engineer and driver that I’ve known,” says Röhrl, a big fan of Kussmaul’s. “He’s a very modest man. And everything he does makes perfect sense. I wish him health, and that he keeps his youthful drive and his roguish spirit.”

[@ShotsByNoah]

Definitely one of my favorite vin wiki videos!

[@muppetpaster]

"we never knew"?? Us Europeans are well aware of what Porsche did in the Paris/Dakar race....We are no idiots.... And NO....Jacky Ickx is NOT Mr. Le Mans.....Tom Kristensen is.....And Mr. Dakar is Stephen Peterhansel... Dakar.....Been there, done that, got the T-shirt....(as a mechanic)

[@Tyindel]

Great video. Knew about the 959 and the dakar win but had no idea about the 4wd 911s. I had wondered why the 911 Dakar used 953 as the number for the design pack but finding out that porsche had built a 4wd 911 called the 953 and it won Dakar instantly explained the number on the 992 911 Dakar

[@JustinGadue58]

I could listen to these stories for hours.. Motor Sports Back In The Day Is Absolutely Fascinating To Me!!

[@tptrsn]

This was a really excellent piece of automotive history!

[@gaelviette]

In the Helicopter crash there was Thierry Sabine and Daniel Balavoine. French people will mostly Remember the death of Balavoine since he was a very famous French singer at the time (and had ran the Paris Dakar in previous years)

[@CraigSmith-qq3sr]

I had to click when it's a John WIKI Monday. Hello from Chattanooga Tn. 😊

[@luiwammes4193]

Jacky Ickx doesn't speak Belgian, he speaks French. Belgian isn't even a language. If they talk about Paris Dakar they always love to talk about the 4x4 very powerful monster race cars. The reason why these cars were entered in the Paris-Dakar was tanks to the end / the ban of Group B Rally. All these carbrands invested millions into producing rally cars to compete in the Group B rally. Rally was a big thing in the 70's and '80s in Europe. Then it ended so the Car brands entered those cars in Paris Dakar, as you mention. Such 4x4 Group B cars as Porsche 959, Peugeot 205 Ti16, and so on. But they also forget the Opel Manta that was entered in 1986 by driver Guy Colsoul. It was also a 'banned' group B rally car; but it was a rear wheel drive car onlu producing 270 BHP. Well now in 1986 that Opel Manta was doing very very well in 1986. It was about to humiliate the competition were it not to a mecanic error. A nut on the airfiletr was nnot bolted down stirly enough. It came loose and was sucked into the engine, blowing the engine out. The Opel Manta was out of the race. If that error didn't occur that rear wheel drive 2x4 car designed in 1978 would have beaten all the 4x4 competition.

[@TheCannonball79]

Love it John.😊

[@vinzzzV]

What a storyteller, keep them coming my friend!

[@mason2me]

In general, I tend to bemoan the fact that the storytellers are never in the thumbnail. That being said, I am extremely proud of how often I correctly guess, "Oh that's gotta be a Ficarra story"

[@lukeduke1212]

The 953 that Jacky Icks drove in 1984 was at the Eifel Rally Festival in Daun in Germany this year (with several other cool cars). Its not just a show where you can look at any car up close but they also drive them on several rally stages.

[@jamiemiller7752]

Brilliant, what a great story. Been a true bobble hatter all my life and never knew this ❤

[@slappomatthew]

“Was” an amazing race. It was the greatest race of all time

[@craigallen5092]

John is a great story teller

[@roglar]

What an interesting story. I used to live and breath the Paris Dakar rally. It never was the same when it left Africa. I saw it in person once when it was in South America, and that was an experience. I utterly lost interest when it moved to Saudiarabia.

[@BigBisalreadytaken]

Seeing Canepa's shop with several 959s makes me so jealous of those that own one.

[@TiptronicSS]

"What other colony can we choose", well damn, that's a pretty honest to say openly.

[@Roxie.the.rx8]

Need a ford vs Ferrari of this

[@kylemgregg]

This needs to be a movie. What a great story.

[@Argent_99]

I remember reading an article in the European motoring press (probably was ‘Motorsport Aktuell’, a utterly peerless weekly publication imo) at the time of the ‘86 Dakar where at one point Metge gave the 959 the beans and proceeded to drive away from the race support helicopter that was following them. The idea that a car running on sand could go faster than a chopper just made people collectively lose their minds. In a way, that ‘84-86 period was sort of the watershed period for the Dakar - before Porsche showed up, you had guys like Freddie Kotilinsky winning in what amounted to a surplus German military squad car (the Audi Iltis, which more or less was the origin of the Quattro AWD system) or Ickx in what was mechanically relatively stock Mercedes 280GE (once the G-wagen went Hollywood, it’s sorta hard to remember how utterly dependable the early Gs were), but after ‘86, it became a playground for highly funded works team in progressively more outlandish machinery.

[@SometimesYouJustGottaSayIt]

What a brilliant piece of automotive history

[@WillyPanama]

The Dakar isn't the same since they stopped running in Africa

[@kfa0]

there are many smaller rallies on similar african routes, you can do it yourself if you are brave enough :) for example the hungarian version is the Bamako Rally

[@edh7492]

Too dangerous, it’s got to be bad if they considered South America a safer option 😅

[@Mark_Proton]

John is rocking that moustache.

[@colinritchie1757]

John Ficarra improving US French relations since 2024

[@RazingthenRaising]

The Dakar Rally is STILL the most insave race out there! Typically around HALF of the people who start are able to finish! Just crossign the finish line is an AMAZING feet! Finishing first.... You have to be insane!

[@RogerAlan]

Of all the characters on vinwiki John is one I’d most like to have dinner with

[@ianwynne764]

Hello John: Thank you very much for this. I am a fan of you and Porsches. Have a really lovely day.

[@wcallen]

Great story, thanks for sharing

[@andrewfletcher5584]

Hmm, new VINwiki video, maybe lat.....wait, is that John?!? Fire that video up!!

[@HugoCorreiabzk]

The Paris-Dakar rally, is one of the races i miss the most. I used to miss classes just to wacht the parts of the race they showed in the TV. Since it moved tô south América and now tô Arábia its not the same, it doesn't has the same kind of appel it used to had.

[@pauloconnor7951]

I love inspiring stories of survival and success !!!

[@Kxji]

Man I love cars and the stories attached to them!

[@catcharapaima]

Loved the video. Keep up the solid content

[@MilyaushaErmakov-f8x]

It’s obvious how much effort went into this!

[@mathiashakonsson2448]

Lovely story, and what a nice way to honour those who sacrificed their time for other’s glory

[@TheLinkToEverything_RI]

Fantastic video! Thank you 🙏

[@Barry.ONeill]

Great story i love the 959 aswell but Not once did he say the first Dakar racers were Motorbike riders.