This is the X-Raid BMW Mini John Cooper Works Buggy that won the Dakar Rally in 2021 with Stéphane Peterhansel at the wheel, a 14-time Dakar winner. It’s now being sold with its FIA passport and German registration documents.
This buggy was built in 2017 and would compete in the Dakar three times, winning on its third attempt. It also raced in the Baja Dubai, the Rallye du Maroc, and the Baja Hail. It’s powered by a 367 bhp 3.0 liter turbo-diesel BMW engine and it has a six-speed sequential gearbox.
Fast Facts – The X-Raid Mini John Cooper Works Buggy
- This X-Raid Mini John Cooper Works Buggy is powered by a 3.0 liter turbo-diesel BMW engine with 367 bhp, it won the 2021 Dakar Rally with Stéphane Peterhansel, a 14-time winner, and it’s now offered for auction with an FIA passport and German registration.
- Originally built in 2017, the buggy competed in the Dakar Rally three times, winning on its third attempt, and also participated in the Baja Dubai, Rallye du Maroc, and Baja Hail, giving it remarkable racing pedigree.
- Developed by X-Raid and BMW, it features a tubular steel chassis, carbon/Kevlar body, long-travel suspension, and a rear-mid-mounted engine.
- The buggy’s rally achievements include 19th in Dakar 2018, 3rd in 2020, and 9 stage wins and a victory in its class in 2021, forever cementing its legacy as a top contender in endurance rally raid racing. It’s now estimated to sell for $210,000 – $420,000 USD.
The Mini Goes Racing In The Dakar
The Dakar Rally, originally called the Paris-Dakar Rally, is arguably the most famous endurance rally in the world today. It came from humble beginnings, when Thierry Sabine founded back in 1978, after he got lost in the Ténéré Desert whilst racing in the 1975 “Rallye Côte-Côte” between Abidjan in Africa and Nice in Southern France.
There are few (if any) motorsport events on the annual calendar that are more photogenic than the Dakar. Image courtesy of Bonhams.
Thierry, while lost, realized that the location would be ideal for a desert rally, and as he found his way back onto the correct course for the race, he was already planning the new event in his mind.
He organized the first running of the Paris-Dakar Rally for two years later in 1979, and 182 vehicles would take part. The first winners would be the French team of Alain Génestier, Joseph Terbiaut, and Jean Lemordant driving a Range Rover in the car class.
French rider Cyril Neveu won the motorcycle class on a Yamaha XT500, and the French team of Jean-François Dunac, Jean-Pierre Chapel, and François Beau driving a Pinzgauer in the truck class.
The Paris-Dakar Rally went from strength to strength, quickly growing to become the most famous race of its kind in the world. By 2008 the security situation in North Africa was such that the event was cancelled, and from 2009-onwards it’s been held in other locations, like South America and Saudi Arabia.
Today it’s simply called the Dakar Rally, and it’s become one of the most important proving grounds for four-wheel drive, motorcycle, buggy, and truck manufacturers looking to prove to the world that their equipment is rally-proven.
Due to political instability, the Dakar has been held in either South America or Saudi Arabia each year since 2008, and it no longer follows the original route.
The X-Raid Mini John Cooper Works Buggy
The X-Raid Mini John Cooper Works Buggy was developed in partnership between X-Raid in Germany, and BMW who own the Mini automotive marque. The Mini has a long and proud history of rally wins, between 1960 and 1972 Minis would win 32 major rallies, including three wins at the Monte Carlo Rally – the most prestigious in the world.
The engineers at X-Raid were tasked with building a Mini-style racing buggy to take part in desert rallies like the Dakar, and perhaps a little unusually, it was to be turbo-diesel powered. They developed a tubular steel chassis with a rear-mid-mounted engine sending power to the rear wheels via a six-speed sequential transaxle.
Power is provided by a 3.0 liter BMW turbodiesel engine making 367 bhp and 589 ft lbs of torque. A carbon and Kevlar body is then fitted over the top, designed to resemble the-then current Mini road cars.
It was given long-travel double A-arm suspension front and back with hefty coilovers, fully-adjustable of course, and disc brakes front and back. The radiator is mounted up front for optimal airflow, and there is an air scoop on the roof for getting cooler air into the engine.
The butterfly doors open up to show a simple rally cabin with two racing bucket seats with full harnesses, a quick-remove steering wheel, as well as all the instruments and switches you might expect, and a full roll cage.
As noted above this buggy raced in the Dakar Rally three times, in 2018 it took 19th place overall, it then won the Baja Dubai in 2019. In 2020 it took 3rd place in the Dakar, 4th place in the Rallye du Maroc, and 3rd place in the Baja Hail.
The Dakar-winning buggy is now due to roll across the auction block with Bonhams in early February with a price guide of $210,000 – $420,000 USD.
Its biggest achievement would be in 2021 when “Mr Dakar” Peterhansel and Edouard Boulanger would win the Dakar Rally outright, winning 9 of the 12 stages, and finishing 14:51 minutes ahead of their nearest rival.
The buggy is now due to roll across the auction block with Bonhams in early February with a price guide of $210,000 – $420,000 USD. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Bonhams
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
