Dacia Duster Soul of Dakar hints at new range of special editions

Dacia has revealed a special version of its Duster SUV inspired by the famed Dakar Rally.

Named the Duster Soul of Dakar, it is officially a one-off concept car to celebrate the brand’s entry on the rally-raid event – but the company’s CEO has suggested that a line of similar cars could soon make it to showrooms.

It is distinguished from the regular Duster by its black, grey and orange livery, which takes inspiration from that of the Dacia Sandrider rally raider, which will be competing on the Dakar Rally.

It is also fitted with the full complement of interior accessories offered on the Duster, such as the Youclip drinks holder.

A roof rack with hard-case luggage completes the look.

Although Dacia officially calls the Soul of Dakar a one-off, CEO Denis Le Vot previously told Autocar that he was open to using the Dakar Rally for a more direct link to its road-going models too.

“Maybe we can use a taste and feel of the Dakar car on some limited series or whatever, but we will see,” he said.

Le Vot said the Dakar Rally was the perfect fit for Dacia as it was so “close to the image that we want to project, in terms of freedom and a robust outdoor projection”.

He added: “This is known by the people that drive our cars and potentially, I hope, [will] attract the interest of the people that haven’t yet tested our cars.”

Dacia has ended all other sponsorships in its markets to focus all its brand efforts on the Dakar project, according to Le Vot. 

Its car is being run by renowned British motorsport engineering firm Prodrive.

The Sandrider uses a Nissan-sourced twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 engine, which runs on synthetic fuel.

It has been designed and created with the same no-frills yet resourceful approach of Dacia’s road cars, using only an essential amount of bodywork and equipment, with features including a magnetic strip on the side of the car to attach nuts and bolts to while crews are changing wheels.

Nine-time World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb and five-time Dakar Rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah are among the firm’s drivers.

They were integrated into the Sandrider’s development from the start, most notably in areas such as cockpit design.