There are two Nissan Paladins (Chinese Xterras) running in the Dakar this year... one of them isn't doing too badly in 50th position about 45 minutes off the lead as of the 4th stage.

http://www.motorsport.com/photos/select.asp?D=Xu_Lang&O=0#

To track them live go here..
http://www.dakar.com/2006/DAK/LIVE/us/500/index.html
Click "Tracking" and add competitor nos. 374 and 385 to the active tracking selection.

I've been following Dakar since the begining..

interesting.. so there is frontier sheetmetal out there for x's if you wanted to be unique.

come to think of it, I bet all production USA frontier body parts probably would fit an X with no issues anyhow.

now if I could just get a manual shift transfercase, perhaps the nissan australia website will show what they get down there.

Hey Hey

Just saw these rigs on the Raid-Live.com and Nissan site. Any links to the team's site for more info on the team & rig?

go team!

-shanon

Forget those, this is how I'd roll through the desert....

6x6

Good luck!!

Me, I'd go with something with a little more suspension and horsepower:







Oh and just in case anyone believes that it's an actual H3:

Too bad he had so many mechanical issues and then took out his radiator and the front end of his truck by running into a clumb of "camel grass" and ended his run a week early...Oh, well...learning experience I guess...Now he's down in Daytona....Does Robby ever stop?

This is actually the car.





It was built as a class 1, sold raced as a class 1 and then Robby bought it back to run it as a Dakar car. UMI and and RGR worked hard to tune the engine to still have 450+ HP and meet the mileage requirements. Of course the body had to have working doors and A/C.

His win or wad style doesn't translate well to such a long race where navigation and common sense have as much a part of winning as the machinery. He did have Darren Skilton as his navigator and he is a Dakar vet. His radiator problems along with a driveshaft bolt ended up killing his chances at continuing.

By the way: he's running my tires.

Pro-Comps?? What kind?

I give you one hint:

I don't know why I said Pro Comp...I knew it was Toyo's and that they were a major sponsor....just had a brain cramp...which version of the Toyo's do you have??

Open country M/T.

The same ones.

I heard he's still using the BFG inner liner though.