De Dakar Rally, door velen beschouwd als een van de zwaarste races ter wereld, zal zijn kamp opslaan tijdens de 2024-editie van Rétromobile! Voor de gelegenheid zal de Pont des Expositions in ’s werelds meest opwindende pop-upgarage een ongekende tentoonstelling organiseren die gewijd is aan dit monument van de autosportcompetitie.

Sommige competities veranderen het gezicht van de autosport voor altijd. De Dakar Rally is er daar onmiskenbaar één van. Sinds 1978 wordt er elk jaar een race van duizenden kilometers gehouden, waarbij coureur en machine één worden in tijden van tegenspoed.

In 2024 brengt Rétromobile hulde aan de Dakar Rally met een unieke tentoonstelling van de beste auto’s en motoren van de competitie.Voor de gelegenheid, en met de steun van ASO (Amaury Sport Organisation – organisator van de Dakar Rally), zal het Mekka van de oldtimers gastheer zijn voor enkele van de auto’s en motoren die hun stempel hebben gedrukt op de geschiedenis van de Dakar Rally: de Yamaha XT500 van Cyril Neveu, de Renault 4L van de gebroeders Marreau, een Porsche 959 speciaal aangepast voor de wedstrijd, en de Nissan X-Trail bestuurd door Johnny Hallyday en René Metge in de race van 2002.

Rétromobile 2024, the international exhibition dedicated to vintage car enthusiasts,
has a big new surprise in store for visitors to its 48th edition, in partnership with
the Dakar Rally. After announcing exhibits dedicated to the centenaries of the MG
brand and the UTAC Linas-Montlhéry autodrome, a new ode to passion for motor
sport will be in the spotlight this year, with the Dakar Rally.
The Dakar Rally is still a benchmark sporting and human event, a true epic covering 9,000
kilometres, launched for the first time in December 1978 by the visionary Thierry Sabine. Over
the years, the man who more than anyone else epitomised the modern-day adventurer brought
together drivers and co-drivers from all over the world to test their own limits and those of their
two- or four-wheeled machines.
Tributes to the pioneers
As part of the 2024 edition of Rétromobile, a unique display will showcase some of the iconic
vehicles that have left their mark on the history of the race. Not only that, but some of the biggest
names in Rally-Raid racing, including Cyril Neveu, Claude Marreau and André Dessoude, to name
but a few, will be on hand to share their experiences and answer questions from the public.
Among the highlights of the exhibition is Thierry Sabine’s XT 500, on which he was reported
missing for 3 days and 4 nights during the 1977 Abidjan-Nice Rally. Rescued at the last minute,
he was deeply affected by the ordeal, and a few months later decided to launch a new adventure:
the Paris-Dakar Rally. The 4L used by the Marreau brothers in the first edition of the rally and
Daniel Nollan’s Renault KZ “La Gazelle” will also be on show, recalling the beginnings of a
competition designed primarily for amateur drivers. Manufacturers such as Peugeot and Porsche,
who left their mark on the 1980s and 1990s, will also be in the spotlight, with iconic models such
as the Peugeot 405 Grand Raid and the Porsche 959 symbolising their dominance at the time.
Within the competition, a category open to vintage vehicles has also been created, bringing
together 174 amateur drivers and co-drivers in a regularity race, the Dakar Classic.
In keeping with its motto “the past always has a future”, Rétromobile will also be exploring the
latest technological developments by displaying the Audi RS Q e-Tron, itself symbolising the third
chapter of the Dakar Rally which, after Africa and South America, has since 2020 been the guest
of the largest country on the Arabian Peninsula: Saudi Arabia. The next Rally will set off on 5
January in AlUla, Saudi Arabia, and will finish one prologue and 12 stages later on 19 January in
Yanbu.
“By revisiting more than forty years of history through this exhibit, we want to pay tribute to all
those involved – drivers, co-drivers, organisers, manufacturers, celebrities, amateurs, spectators,
mechanics… – who have contributed to making this event the greatest Rally in the world. Having
myself had the chance to take part in the 2022 edition of the Dakar Classic, I think I can say that
the Dakar Rally is as much a mechanical challenge as it is a human one, one of those rare
experiences that mark a person’s life forever. As Thierry Sabine used to say: “A challenge for those
who go, a dream for those who stay behind”. It is precisely this part of the dream that we aim to
share with the exhibition’s visitors,” says Romain Grabowski, Director of Rétromobile.
“In the world and history of motor sports, the Dakar occupies a place of its own. The era of the
pioneers was also one in which adventure was made accessible to amateur sportspeople, driven
by the call of the desert and hitherto virtually inaccessible territories. The vehicles as well as the
men who testify to this period at Rétromobile reflect this particularity: the Marreau brothers’
Renault 4L rubs shoulders with Ari Vatanen’s Peugeot 405, because then just as now, the challenge
of the Dakar was aimed at immense champions as well as those affectionately known as ‘leeks’.
United by the same passion,” adds David Castera, director of the Dakar Rally.

RÉTROMOBILE 2024
WEDNESDAY 31 JANUARY – SUNDAY 4 FEBRUARY 2024
Paris expo Porte de Versailles – Pavilions 1, 2.2, 3
Opening hours: Weds & Fri: 10am – 10pm / Thurs, Sat, Sun: 10am – 7pm
PREVIEW EVENING • TUESDAY 30 JANUARY 2024 FROM 7PM TO 10PM