The first 911 with 4-wheel drive was unveiled at the IAA in Frankfurt in 1981. Its baptism of fire then came in 1984 during the Paris-Dakar Rally over a period of 20 days and a distance of 12,000 km. Porsche assembled a “Desert Team” for the purpose which would participate over three years. The driving force behind this was Jacky Ickx who succeeded in recruiting the sponsor Rothmans and the driver René Metge. The entire team only consisted of 18 people, counting both drivers and co-drivers. Ickx drove together with the famous French actor Claude Brasseur, while René Metge was joined by Dominique Lemoyne. The third car was driven by the engineer Roland Kussmaul who acted as a “water bearer” for the team.

A cable fire caused Ickx’s car to lose a great deal of time at the beginning, and it dropped to position 217. Jacky Ickx started an incredible race to catch up over the next 14 special stages and gained again to reach position 3, only 30 minutes behind the leader René Metge. This is still regarded today as one of the most remarkable desert drives. As Ickx was attempting to overtake his team mate Metge, a half shaft broke in the penultimate special stage. The 1.5 hours lost as a result meant that Ickx and Brasseur finally finished in 6th position in the overall placings. Metge and Lemoyne were the victors, while the third car crossed the finish line in 26th position. The Porsche era in the Dakar was also the beginning of the era of professionals.

The Porsche 911/953 (a reengineered 911er SC) was a welcome development project for Porsche, as it wanted to gain experience with 4-wheel drive. It is the direct precursor of the 959. In total, only these three Porsche 953 models were every built.