The best cars to make into safari models

Alfa Romeo GTV

Let’s start with a controversial one since few designs are as delicate and elegant as Bertone’s creation for the two-door Alfa Romeo Giulia. However, there were over 200,000 of them made and while the oxidation attrition rate has been high, many still remain. And many could also do with a few addenda to disguise many decades of what we could politely call patination. There is also something very aesthetically pleasing about taking such a simple design and beefing it up. We would pick a later 2.0-litre example to help motivate those tall tyres.

Ferrari 308 GT4

The less loved of the Ferrari 308 twins is growing in value these days but we think it still makes a good candidate for the big-tyre treatment given the advantages of four-seats and a V8 much torquier than many Maranello offerings. The 308 GT4’s square-edged design also lends itself well to the addition of off-road cladding and even two-tone paint. The mid mounted engine might require some modifications to the intakes and radiators but it’s a surprisingly practical platform to start from.

Jaguar XJ

This may be more of an involved build than your simple long shocks and springs lift job but there is precedence for it. Dutch engineer Frans Van Engelen decided to tackle the 2003 Dakar Rally in classic style and chose as his steed that paragon of ruggedness that is the Jaguar XJ and allied it to the byword of reliability that is the Range Rover. Well at least he was keeping it in the family. With its 4.2-litre V8 uprated was all set to finish the race until Van Engelen found out a few hundred clicks from the chequered flag that his wife had gone into labour. Now someone else just needs to step up and finish it for him.

Lotus Elise

Lightweight is clearly a winner on the trail as well as the track so why not start with a featherweight in the form of a Lotus Elise. A Series 1 has already been transformed thusly by tuning parts company Decl-Concept but with these becoming increasingly collectible we would go for a second generation car which also happens to be our pick for the best looking. Plus it has the benefit of a Toyota powertrain which makes it fixable as far from the beaten track as you can pilot it.

Mazda MX-5

The Mazda MX-5’s ubiquity and longevity have made it the answer to many automotive questions over the years, including ‘what if we made it taller and added more tyre’. Enough of them have been modified into off-road drift machines over the years that the category has even been given a nickname, ‘Rallyata’. The original is probably still the ultimate example with its snorkel, flares, tubular bumpers and boot mounted spare wheel.

Nissan 240Z

This one might be a bit of a cheat since it is based on an actual Safari Rally-winning car from the ‘70s. The nimble 240Z was a revelation as one of the Japanese firm’s first sports cars sold in the US and Europe. It was pretty, nimble, powerful and above all, tough. Which stood it in good stead when it was fitted with a limited slip diff, rally-spec suspension and sump guards to take on the Safari Rally, which it won in 1971 and 1973. There are various replicas out there, many eligible for historic competition but you could always build your own.

Porsche 911

Often crushingly victorious on the track, the 911’s rally pedigree can often be overlooked but it has inspired many a Safari-replica over the years. The pre-1988 911s with their torsion bar suspension are an easier prospect to raise up in order to clear nobbly rubber and take to the adornment of large spotlights, bash plates and nudge bars very well. We would have ours finished in a classic Rothmans livery to reflect the four-wheel-drive 959 as campaigned in the Dakar Rally by Jacky Ickx.

Rolls-Royce Corniche

Absolutely saving the best and most preposterous for last here but why not go all out and roll high in a Roller? Playboy and gambler Thierry de Montcorge bet his friends that he could compete in the then relatively new and very gruelling Paris to Dakar Rally in a Rolls-Royce. Unsurprisingly they enthusiastically took him up on it and, while we wouldn’t exactly call what he did cheating, we also wouldn’t exactly call the car a Rolls-Royce.

A Toyota Landcruiser chassis was heavily modified and fitted with a Chevrolet 350 small block and then clothed in a fibreglass replica of a Rolls-Royce Corniche. De Montcorge and co-driver Pelletier were running 13^th before being disqualified for an illegal repair stop. With a Dakar Classic class now in existence, maybe it’s time someone had another go.

GTV image courtesy of Bonhams, 308 GT4 image courtesy of RM Sotheby’s.