1983 Mercedes-Benz 280 GE Rally

Sporting successes have boosted the image of the robust Mercedes-Benz off-road vehicle. In 1982 Jacky Ickx and Claude Brasseur took 2nd place in the Paris-Dakar Rally in a 280 GE, while Jean-Pierre Jaussaud took 3rd place, also at the wheel of a 280 GE. In the following year of 1983, Ickx and Brasseur won the car class of the legendary desert rally, marking the greatest victory of the G-Class. The body of their 280 GE was optimized in the wind tunnel and was also lighter than the series-production version thanks to some aluminum parts. Únder the bonnet was an engine whose output had been increased to 170 kW (230 horsepower). The following years also saw the off-road vehicle continually achieve new sporting successes.This vehicle is a recreation of the 1983 Mercedes-Benz 280 GE that won the 1983 Paris-Dakar Rally driven by Jacky Ickx and Claude Brasseur. The duo successfully battled 7,500 miles of grueling, off-road terrain between Paris, France and Dakar, Senegal. While the 280 GE rally car was based on the production model it was aerodynamically optimized with detachable parts and weighed less than the production model due to he use of aluminum components. The engine output was increased by 64 hp to 220 horsepower and the front axle was modified. The rally vehicle was also fitted with stronger springs, special shock absorbers and all-terrain tires. The Paris-Dakar victory proved to be a significant one for Mercedes-Benz as the 'GWagen' had only been introduced four years earlier in 1979. The 1983 race was also the first and only time an automaker would win the Dakar overall with two vehicle classes as Mercedes-Benz also won the truck classification that year with a 1936 Mercedes-Benz AK all-wheel drive medium-duty truck.

Source - Mercedes-Benz