Aurelia Butler

The Nissan Safari Rally Z Tribute celebrates the Datsun 240Z that won the 1971 East African Safari Rally.Built by Tommy Pike Customs, the Z features a two-inch lift thanks to an upgraded suspension and burly Yokohama Geolandar M/T G003 tires.The V-6 engine has been tuned to more than 400 horsepower. The modified Z also has a cat-back exhaust, cold air intake, and twin-disc clutch and flywheel. The popularity of off-roading has surged as trucks and SUVs have come to dominate the market, with automakers launching new sub-brands—Subaru with Wilderness and Honda with TrailSport, for example—to beef up their crossovers. The go-anywhere enthusiasm has spread to sports cars too, with Porsche and Lamborghini concocting the 911 Dakar and Huracán Sterrato, respectively. At the 2023 SEMA show, opening this week in Las Vegas, Nissan is showing its own take on the trend with this Safari Rally Z Tribute, built by Tommy Pike Customs. The Tribute pays homage to the rally-spec Datsun 240Z that triumphed at the 3800-mile 1971 East African Safari Rally, which Nissan previously honored with a Juke-based concept a couple of years ago. Nissan commissioned the build from South Carolina–based Tommy Pike Customs, which built a Leaf-powered 1987 Sunny pickup and a woody-wagon-inspired Ariya for last year’s SEMA show. The modified Z sports car will sit alongside a replica of the Datsun 240Z Safari.Tommy Pike Customs fitted the sharply styled sports car with some major upgrades. The Tribute build rides 2.0 inches higher thanks to a custom KW safari suspension, which also includes adjustable upper control arms, a strut tower brace, and other components from Nissan in-house tuner NISMO. Unique black 17.0-inch wheels are wrapped in chunky Yokohama Geolandar M/T G003 225/65 tires.Protecting the oily bits are a front bumper guard and skid plate, while a slew of auxiliary LED lights sprouting from the front end provide extra visibility in dark or dusty conditions. Inside, the Z features a roll bar hooked up to four-point harnesses that keep the driver firmly seated in Recaro bucket seats. The V-6 engine has also been tuned by AMS Performance, pushing output beyond the stock 400 horsepower, although Nissan didn’t specify quite how much it was improved. Other under-the-hood goodies include a cold air intake, a carbon-fiber engine cover, a heat exchange, and a twin-disc clutch and flywheel. Tommy Pike Customs also added a cat-back exhaust with laser-etched NISMO branding. The look is rounded out with a livery that mimics the original rally car’s, albeit sporting the number “23” on the doors instead of the “11” worn by the 1971 car. While we doubt this off-road Z has any chance at production, hopefully some of these parts could be offered by Nissan for DIYers who want to create their own rally special.More Special NissansThis content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.Associate News EditorCaleb Miller began blogging about cars at 13 years old, and he realized his dream of writing for a car magazine after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and joining the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to one day own something bizarre like a Nissan S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan. More

Earlier this year, a Ferrari 499P went out and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans to give the brand its first win in the race since 1965. Back then, customers could buy spectacular Ferraris like the 250 GTO directly from the Scuderia. While just about everything else about the automotive world has changed since, Ferrari apparently sees some value in that tradition. That means it will sell the 499P Modificata, a variant of the 499P Le Mans Hypercar available to customers. That does not mean customers in the racing sense, either. This is not a car for privateers looking to race a Ferrari—this is a car for people looking to purchase a 499P of their own as the ultimate track-day car. Unlike the presumably canceled Toyota GR Super Sport or the Aston Martin Valkyrie that is moving to the Hypercar class in 2025, the 499P Modificata is also not a road car. This is a pure track car, one free of the restrictions that come with racing to a ruleset. That makes the 499P Modificata something like the 919 Evo to the 499P’s Porsche 919 Hybrid. While this car is not quite as extreme as the Porsche—the 919 Evo had over 1000 horsepower and active aerodynamics—freedom from regulation allows for Ferrari to make the car more powerful and make more direct use of its hybrid assistance. The resulting car has 697 horsepower, four-wheel drive that can be activated well below the FIA-regulated 118 mph, and specially designed Pirelli tires. The hybrid powertrain’s power is also deployed differently, available at the push of a button to bring total output to a peak of 858 horsepower. Far past the standards of performance you might find in even the most extreme road cars, that puts the 499P Modificata in league only with the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro and Bugatti Bolide. While both of those cars are not far from Le Mans Hypercars themselves, the Ferrari actually is one. Add in a complicated hybrid system and that makes it a fairly difficult car to run for private owners, so Ferrari has introduced the Sport Prototipi Clienti program to provide direct support. In a system similar to its F1 Clienti program for owners of historic F1 cars, 499P Modificata owners will have their car both maintained and supported by Ferrari itself. That allows the company to make a more complex and modern track car, in this case the only one in its ultra-exclusive segment that actually utilizes a hybrid setup to provide power to all four wheels. Going forward, it also means Ferrari will already have a structure in place to support projects of similar ambition.Ferrari has not announced a price for the 499P Modificata. With no other prototype racer from a major manufacturer on sale today, comparison points can be hard to find. The closest thing may be a ready-to-race Porsche 963, which comes in at $3 million for customer race teams. As the Ferrari was developed for even more complicated regulations, expect a high number.More Ferrari More

Porsche revived the 935 name in 2019 for this 911 GT2 RS–based track car, featuring a 700-hp twin-turbo 3.8-liter flat-six.This example recalls the Porsche 935 that won the 1979 24 Hours of Daytona with its black paintwork accented by red, orange, and pink stripes.Porsche built just 77 units of the 2019 935. This one previously sold for $1,325,000 at an auction last year.Before we delve into the history that makes this 2019 Porsche 935 extra special, just admire it. Run your eyes over the slinky profile, marvel at the colossal rear wing, inspect the intricate vents carved into the carbon-fiber-composite body panels, and allow yourself to get lost in the deep black paint. This is a truly stunning car, and this homage to the classic 935 race car is also exceptionally rare, with just 77 units produced. It’s not every day that a 2019 935 comes up for auction, but this example is now being offered on Bring a Trailer—which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos—and if you sell all of your worldly possessions, you just might be able to afford it.Bring a TrailerRevealed in 2018, the 935 pays tribute to the dominant race car of the same name that triumphed at the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans. While the win in France has gone down as the 935’s most iconic victory, the turbocharged, slant-nosed race car was even more unstoppable in the United States, where various 935s snatched top honors at the 24 Hours of Daytona for six years straight. Even when Porsche didn’t enter a factory-backed car in 1979, the 935 won in Daytona at the hands of customer team Interscope Racing. The number zero Porsche 935 was driven to the top step of the podium by endurance legend Hurley Haywood, Danny Ongais, and team owner Ted Field, who would later co-found Interscope Records with Jimmy Iovine. Their car, painted in jet black with flowing stripes in shades of pink and red, looked particularly resplendent as it led the field past the checkered flag.Bring a TrailerThe livery worn by this 2019 example is a direct callback to the 1979 Daytona winner, with eye-catching stripes that accentuate the sleek, curvy styling. This track-only tool is based on the beastly 911 GT2 RS and pays tribute to the original, with a smooth, flat hood and a lengthy “longtail” profile capped off by that ginormous wing. Under the carbon fiber lies a steel and aluminum composite shell, with power coming courtesy of a twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter flat-six that sends 700 horsepower to the rear wheels via a seven-speed PDK dual-clutch transaxle. The 935 was also fitted with a limited-slip differential, slotted and ventilated Brembo brakes, adjustable dampers, a roughly 30-gallon fuel cell, and a welded-in roll cage. The side mirrors were borrowed from the 911 RSR race car and the 935 rides on BBS 18-inch center-lock wheels. The driver sits in a Recaro carbon-fiber race seat and controls the vehicle with a yolk-style carbon steering wheel. The 935 also includes air conditioning, a luxury in the track-car world, and a neat wooden shift knob.Bring a TrailerUnfortunately, the modern 935 was never sanctioned to run in a racing series itself, meaning many of these track beasts have become works of art that spend more time under gleaming garage lights than tearing around the track. The original owner put just 17 miles of this 935, the 49th example built, before the selling dealer purchased it at the Pebble Beach Gooding & Company auction for $1,325,000. The dealer has since added 73 miles, bringing the total to 90. This example is being sold with a factory-suppled spare parts package that was a $44,000 option when new. Along with the Daytona-honoring race livery, which cost a whopping $27,500, this 935 cost $1,048,080 when new. Bidding has already surpassed that, sitting at $1,050,935 with 10 days remaining until the auction ends on November 8.Associate News EditorCaleb Miller began blogging about cars at 13 years old, and he realized his dream of writing for a car magazine after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and joining the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to one day own something bizarre like a Nissan S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan. More

Approximately 7735 examples of the VW Golf Country were built over two model years.The Country is based on a concept car, but Steyr-Daimler-Puch put it into limited production.It was imported to the U.S. in 2022.Car and Driver Take a normal passenger car (rather than an SUV or pickup), jack up the ride height, and people go a little nutty. Both the Porsche 911 Dakar and Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato sold out nearly immediately, and the history of “safari” 911s goes way back. If you don’t have a six-figure stash to blow on a lifted supercar, perhaps this 1991 VW Golf Country will scratch that itch.This 1991 Volkswagen Golf Country is currently up for auction on Bring a Trailer (which, like C/D, is a vassal state of the Hearst Autos empire). According to the listing, approximately 7735 of these lifted Golf hatchbacks were built. The idea started out as a concept at the 1990 Geneva auto show, but after the public went full bat guano for it, VW sent some of its four-wheel-drive Golfs to Steyr-Daimler-Puch for subsequent modification.Bring a TrailerThe modifications involve more than shoving some bricks between the springs and the shock mounts. Steyr-Daimler-Puch installed tubular subframes, brush guards, skid plates, fender flares, and a sweet trunk-mounted spare tire. The result looks like something from a new-wave zombie movie. There’s even a fun little decal on the side, not that the public needs reminding about this vehicle’s off-roading aspirations. All told, the Golf Country rides nearly five inches higher than the standard four-door hatchback, and it carries some 438 unique parts, according to a VW press release.Bring a TrailerMore Lifted NonsenseInside, the cabin is nearly as fun as the exterior. The seats and door panels are wrapped in patterned gray cloth, and the interior barely looks used. The dashboard houses some slick VDO gauges, and the odometer is showing a smidge under 100,000 miles. Don’t expect to go anywhere in a hurry; the Country’s 1.8-liter engine only makes 97 horsepower.Bring a TrailerIt’s pretty safe to say you won’t see a Golf Country roll through Bring a Trailer very often, so if you want an unconventional off-roader, you have until November 3 to swing through with a bid.Senior EditorCars are Andrew Krok’s jam, along with boysenberry. After graduating with a degree in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2009, Andrew cut his teeth writing freelance magazine features, and now he has a decade of full-time review experience under his belt. A Chicagoan by birth, he has been a Detroit resident since 2015. Maybe one day he’ll do something about that half-finished engineering degree. More