1986 Audi quattro Dakar Proto 'De Paoli': a Range Rover 3.5 V8 w/ an Audi quattro body off-road car!

Yes, I'm sorry to say there's no 5-cylinder singing under the hood of this quattro. But its history is truly fascinating and it deserves to be told.
Back in 1979, the Paris-Dakar event caught the attention of an Italian entrepreneur, Franco De Paoli. It was love at first sight for him. After his first Dakar in 1980 with a Range Rover V8, he later took part in 24 editions and many other rally-raids in Africa.

In those years the choice of vehicle was not difficult as there weren't many cars suitable for such a race. The Range Rover was perfect, with a lot of race-ready components available, a lot of knowledge surrounding it, and not too expensive to run. In 1981 De Paoli sold his company, so he had time to prepare his racing car and established his workshop near Milan, specialising in off-road racing vehicles. His idea was to create a car specifically for the Paris-Dakar.

The first, ready in 1983, was the Rover Range V8 Proto, a mix between a Range Rover chassis and a Rover 3500 SD1 body. It was a really great car, capable of flying at 180km/h on the sand, with a very low centre of gravity, combining the benefits of both the donor cars. He did three Dakars, a Rallye des Pharaons, the Atlas, Tunisia and so on. A privateer on the Paris-Dakar could really do well then, with hard work and a little luck and money.

From the experience made with the Rover V8 prototype, Franco came up with the idea of using an icon which was very popular at the time: the Audi quattro. This first prototype was developed by Franco in 1985 using a Range Rover-derived chassis with reduced rear overhang and reinforcements in the suspension attachment points. The fiberglass and Kevlar body was bolted to the frame with rubber pads to absorb shocks with fully removable front and rear bonnets.

The engine was the classic Rover 3.5-litre V8 which was able to produce around 230hp at 5,400 rpm. The weight distribution was 50% on the two axes. In 1987 de Paoli introduced an updated version. In total 5 prototypes with different characteristics were produced.

Franco is also the one behind the interesting 'Ferrari F40' bodied Mitsubishi Pajero called 'Red Typhoon'.

Watch the Rover-Audi driving on the Vernasca hillclimb course during the 2021 Vernasca Silver Flag, an event born in mid 90s as a revival of the historic Castell'Arquato-Lugagnano-Vernasca hillclimb held from 1953 to 1972!

#Audiquattro #AudiquattroDakar #RangeRoverV8

I have to thank my friends and youtubers ‪@Italiansupercarvideo‬ and ‪@MattyB727‬ for the great collaboration done during this event. Don't forget to subscribe to their channels!!

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Camcorder: Canon Legria HF G30 & GX10 + Canon DM-100 Microphone, Sony AX-53 + Audio Technica Microphone
Event: Vernasca Silver Flag 2021
Where: Castell'Arquato, Italy

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