Photo: Porsche
Porsche's 911 Dakar is a fascinating vehicle, but everyone expected it to be called differently. We, just like everyone else in the world, knew about the 911 Safari models, as well as the independent projects that were inspired by them. Yet, the production car had a different name. It sounds like a missed opportunity, but the reality is very different.
As you can imagine, even Porsche wanted to use the Safari name for its special 911 model, but automakers must comply with certain rules when naming their cars. Ironically, this is not the first time this has happened to Porsche, and the second time when it happens to the 911 line-up, at least from what we can gather.
Mind you, Porsche initially wanted to use the “901” name for the model that eventually became the 911. Back in September 1963, Porsche unveiled the 901 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and everything seemed fine.
A year later, the model had already begun being manufactured, with technical documentation, badges, and everything else that is required. Upon the official reveal at the Paris Motor Show in October 1964, the folks at Peugeot had something to say about the new name.
As it turned out, Peugeot had filed a patent for a three-digit-type designation for its automobiles, with a zero in the middle, and that was why Porsche had to rename its model 911 instead of the initially planned 901.
However, just 82 units of the Porsche 901 were produced, and those that survived are more valuable today for collectors than a comparable 911 because of their rarity. All first-gen 911s have had great resale values for many years now, but certain examples are worth more than others for various reasons.
The same situation applies to stamps, for example, where a small mistake in a series of stamps or other mass-produced elements has the potential to make that object more valuable to collectors.
Back in 1855, the Swedish post made a color error with one of its stamps, which was painted yellow instead of green. The error was unnoticed at the time, but stamp collectors figured it out over the years, and there is just one Treskilling Yellow in existence, which was last sold for $2,300,000 in 1996.
The trademark for the term “Safari” currently belongs to Tata Motors, which sells a crossover named Safari on several markets. While there was no real possibility for confusion between a version of the Porsche 911 and a crossover from Tata Motors, even on markets where both were sold, the law forbids the use of a trademarked name without a deal that allows otherwise.
As the director of Porsche's 911 Dakar program, Thomas Krickelberg, told Edmunds, Porsche talked to Tata Motors representatives, but they were not granted permission to use the name.
Since that possibility went out the door, the firm had to switch to an alternative name. Mind you, we had heard rumors regarding the possibility of this version of the 911 being named Dakar, instead of Safari, but those could not be confirmed at that time.
As you can imagine, the Dakar name is also trademarked, and Porsche went ahead and spoke to the Amaury Sport Organization, which is the company that organizes the famous Dakar Rally, and managed to obtain the right to use that name. While the amount was not disclosed in the interview, the approval came after paying a fee.
Mind you, Porsche initially wanted to use the “901” name for the model that eventually became the 911. Back in September 1963, Porsche unveiled the 901 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and everything seemed fine.
A year later, the model had already begun being manufactured, with technical documentation, badges, and everything else that is required. Upon the official reveal at the Paris Motor Show in October 1964, the folks at Peugeot had something to say about the new name.
As it turned out, Peugeot had filed a patent for a three-digit-type designation for its automobiles, with a zero in the middle, and that was why Porsche had to rename its model 911 instead of the initially planned 901.
However, just 82 units of the Porsche 901 were produced, and those that survived are more valuable today for collectors than a comparable 911 because of their rarity. All first-gen 911s have had great resale values for many years now, but certain examples are worth more than others for various reasons.
The same situation applies to stamps, for example, where a small mistake in a series of stamps or other mass-produced elements has the potential to make that object more valuable to collectors.
Back in 1855, the Swedish post made a color error with one of its stamps, which was painted yellow instead of green. The error was unnoticed at the time, but stamp collectors figured it out over the years, and there is just one Treskilling Yellow in existence, which was last sold for $2,300,000 in 1996.
The trademark for the term “Safari” currently belongs to Tata Motors, which sells a crossover named Safari on several markets. While there was no real possibility for confusion between a version of the Porsche 911 and a crossover from Tata Motors, even on markets where both were sold, the law forbids the use of a trademarked name without a deal that allows otherwise.
As the director of Porsche's 911 Dakar program, Thomas Krickelberg, told Edmunds, Porsche talked to Tata Motors representatives, but they were not granted permission to use the name.
Since that possibility went out the door, the firm had to switch to an alternative name. Mind you, we had heard rumors regarding the possibility of this version of the 911 being named Dakar, instead of Safari, but those could not be confirmed at that time.
As you can imagine, the Dakar name is also trademarked, and Porsche went ahead and spoke to the Amaury Sport Organization, which is the company that organizes the famous Dakar Rally, and managed to obtain the right to use that name. While the amount was not disclosed in the interview, the approval came after paying a fee.
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