Volkswagen T3 at the Dakar Rally

Today I’m here to tell you the story of the Volkswagen T3’s involvement in the Dakar Rally. Did it actually compete? In how many editions? What place did it finish in?

Table of contents

• What is the Dakar Rally?
• The Volkswagen T3 at the Dakar Rally in 1983 and 1984
• Dakar Classic 2023: Volkswagen T3 Doka

What is the Dakar Rally?

The Paris-Dakar Rally is one of the world’s most famous and challenging rally races. The first edition began on 26 December 1978 and has been regarded as one of the toughest races due to the desert and mountainous terrain it traverses.

In its early years, the rally started in Paris (France) and finished in Dakar (Senegal), covering thousands of kilometres across various African countries, including Mauritania, Mali and Burkina Faso, amongst others. However, it has not always started in Paris or finished in Dakar.

Competitors face challenges such as extreme heat, navigation and orientation, a lack of infrastructure and the difficulty of the terrain, making this one of the most challenging races in the world.

The categories in which competitors could take part were motorbikes, cars, trucks and quads (the side-by-side category was added in 2017). Every year, hundreds of competitors from all over the world enter to try to complete the rally. Over the years, victories have been claimed by car manufacturers such as Peugeot, Mitsubishi and Volkswagen, amongst others.

Throughout its history, the Paris-Dakar has been suspended on several occasions due to security concerns in the countries through which the rally passed; it was relocated to South America from 2009 to 2019, and in 2020 the rally moved to Asia, specifically to Saudi Arabia.

Volkswagen T3 at the Dakar Rally in 1983 and 1984

The Volkswagen T3 was one of the vehicles that took part in the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1983 and 1984.

In 1983, the Volkswagen team fielded French driver Jean-Paul Sevin and co-driver Jacques Denarnaud, competing in a Volkswagen T3 Transporter with start number 139, but they did not perform well and failed to finish the race due to technical problems.

In 1984, the official Volkswagen team consisted of drivers Jean-Luc Redoux and Philippe Cornier at the wheel of a Volkswagen T3 Transporter Pick-up bearing start number 166, but they too failed to finish the race due to mechanical problems.

It is important to note two things: that these appearances by the Volkswagen T3 in the Dakar Rally took place at a time when the rally was less professionalised, lacking the technology and resources available today, and that many teams competed with vehicles not specifically prepared for the rigours of this competition. Furthermore, it should be noted that the Volkswagen T3s that took part were, of course, the Syncro version.

We can therefore conclude that, despite the mechanical problems they encountered, these appearances demonstrated the vehicle’s capability and endurance across the rally’s challenging terrain.

Dakar Classic 2023: Volkswagen T3 Doka

Dakar Classic is a special category within the rally that allows historic vehicles which have competed in previous editions of the Dakar Rally to take part. These vehicles are entered into a special classification and compete in special stages within the rally.

Well, in the 2023 edition in Saudi Arabia, we saw a Volkswagen T3 in the Dakar Classic Rally.

In this case, it was a Volkswagen T3 Transporter Doka Syncro (car number 710) from Team Logistic Rallye, driven by Frédéric Verdaguer with Stéphane Xercavins as his co-driver. On this occasion, they did indeed finish the rally in 67th place overall.

Finally, here’s a very interesting video on the prices of the classic cars that competed in the 2023 Dakar Classic, so you can see how much it costs to take part in the Dakar Rally with a Volkswagen T3.