New Special Invitation Class Peking to Paris Motor Challenge 2025

In a move that acknowledges the growing Classic 4 x 4 movement, HERO-ERA have opened a special Invitation Class where owners can forward their vehicle details to be considered for entry into the legendary Peking to Paris Motor Challenge in 2025.

Classic 4 x 4 vehicles that are put forward for consideration will need to be pre 1985 production based, ideally in group N or what is termed ‘Stock,’ more standard form. HERO-ERA stress that they will not be selecting ‘Dakar Specials’ but rather their production-based equivalent which are also called the ‘Stock’ class at Dakar.

Naturally, the chassis and suspension may require strengthening with ride height considerations for desert running with sump and tank guards. A roll cage, harness belts and other safety features are important.

But which will be the best 4 x 4 by far for the 15,000 kms epic trip, which vehicle would be best suited to complete the adventure competition halfway around the earth, across the world’s largest landmass?

Historic 4 x 4 fans would point to many quite different machines capable of the task, which would make choosing one quite difficult, so here is a selection of entry ideas.

Classic Land Rover and Range Rovers immediately spring to mind – not just because they proved their ‘Stock’ reliability on Camel Trophies in the jungles and deserts around the world, but because before that in 1972, original Range Rovers conquered the Darien Gap.

The original Land Rover which spawned the genre is the Mk 1, an absolute classic. Taking inspiration from the American Willys Jeep in World War Two, Maurice Wilks the then Chairman and Chief Engineer of Rover, had a Willys Jeep shipped over to his Anglesey farm, hitting on the idea of a utility vehicle for the market for farmers like himself and rugged road users. He felt Rover should market the ‘off road’ concept, they agreed, and the first Land Rover prototype was produced.

Wilkes started creating the first Land Rover in 1947 while still living at his farm in Wales. The Land Rover Mk 1 was officially released at the Amsterdam Motor Show on April 30, 1948.

Its central driving position didn’t last, but the majority of its formula remained unmodified until the 1980s

The idea was that you could go just about anywhere in a Land Rover, which generally has proved to be the case, so that 76 years later if you think 4 × 4, it is more than likely you will think Land Rover.

The Best of British has been around since 1948, the Series 1 is a truly versatile classic, but its ability to be hosed down and cleaned out remains a key feature today. The mud, sand and slime can be cleared from your trail blazing Land Rover, provided you can find a hose at one of the desert camps on the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge!

It is a true icon of the motoring world, so it would be incredible to see one finish the P2P in 2025!

The marque grew further by combining its ‘off-road’ capability with luxury 4 x 4 transport when it developed the Range Rover for launch in 1970. Just as farmers, firemen and the military had proved Land Rover’s capability through work, so the company knew it had to demonstrate that the new Range Rover was no show room lizard with a 4 x 4 tag for safe driving to the seaside.

Backed by a huge marketing campaign, the two Range Rovers headed for the Americas with an army of army personnel to support what turned out to be proof of its tough credentials despite its luxury exterior.

The 1972 British Trans-Americas Expedition became the first motorised expedition to traverse the Americas, north to south, including the ‘roadless’ Darien Gap.

Few have crossed the Darien Gap in motoring history; the Classic Range Rover has.

The Darien Gap is a forbidding swampy jungle that connects Panama to Colombia.

The Expedition was led by group of British military personnel, led by Col. John Blashford-Snell CBE, one of Britain’s most famous modern-day explorers, driving two Range Rover Classics. They started in Canada travelling though the US to make it part of a Pan-American record when combined with the Darien Gap crossing.

The expedition had to fight its way through jungle and swamp, with teams walking ahead looking for obstacles under the foliage and hacking through thick foliage where necessary! The approaching rainy season kept the expedition motivated to move, but eventually they made it – one of a handful of expeditions to get through over the years.

The Range Rovers proved themselves in extreme conditions in the seventies and became the best sellers they are today. If they could do that then, in near-standard form, then a well-prepared mount may be an excellent choice for the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge 2025.

The Range Rovers, as they set off across North and Central America, were in more or less stock configuration. There were accessories such as a winch, a front-end guard made of two stacked bumpers, big knobby swamp tyres and a raised exhaust.

Their tough build was further reinforced when a Range Rover won the inaugural Paris Dakar Rally In 1981.

HERO-ERA actually offer a 1972 Range Rover as part of their Arrive Drive fleet, all rally ready but without the swamp tyres!

The Austin Gipsy has long been overlooked as a classic 4 x 4. It was launched in 1958 as a direct rival to the Land Rover – but too late as Land Rover had ten years on them by then already! The Gipsy was a less agricultural and much more passenger friendly machine than its Austin Champ predecessor, yet still rugged with a choice of 2.2-litre petrol or diesel engines. With its reliability record and basic functionality, it could be considered.

The predecessor to the Gipsy was Austin Champ, built to a British Army specification for a light ¼-ton truck. Austin supplied 13,750 4 x 4 Champs to the Army from 1952 and 1955, all with a four cylinder 2.8-litre Rolls-Royce B40 engine with 80bhp. It is an agile off-roader with a four-wheel drive declutch in the front differential so the car can be driven with just rear-drive. This, the Champ, has adventure written all over it, if not the name of the winner of the Invitation Class yet!

The Fiat Campagnola was another Land Rover rival, built from 1951 up to 1987. When it was launched, the Campagnola was aimed at the general car buyers, whilst an Alfa Romeo-badged version used by Italian police forces with a 1.9-litre diesel engine proved to be steady.

Fiat provided an updated version in 1974 with the option of a 2.5-litre diesel engine and six seats with smooth torsion bar suspension, the interesting fact was that the evo version was praised for its on, and off-road handling and was said to be better than its Land Rover rival.

Belgian was not to be outdone! Rally lovers and adventurers, the Belgians were proud of their Minerva marque, a luxury car producer before WW2, that post war, built utility 4 x 4’s.

Actually, the Minerva 4×4 was a Land Rover built under licence from 1951 to 1956, with different front grill and front wings called the Tout Terrain. Some cars were bought for nonmilitary use but the bulk were made for the Belgian Army; So this is one tough cookie, ideal for the Gobi or for the highlands of Georgia and Turkey.

It is certainly a classic, and one that would not be easy to find, but straight forward to prepare.

It could be a nimble yet rugged partner in the quest to reach Paris.

The first Suzuki 4 x 4 was also the first mass-production 4 x 4 in Japan's domestic mini-car category. With development starting in 1968, the first Suzuki 4 x 4 lightweight vehicle became available in 1970 but was marketed with just three seats and a 360cc engine, so it would not be great for the P2P, but later 70-80s models would, as they are tough and predictable off-road machines.Suzuki’s development from what was originally a utility 4 x 4 continued with the last LJ model, the LJ80. Body changes were minimal, with larger front wheelarches and flared rear wheelarches to offer a more stylish design.

The bonnet, still held down with two spring clips like on earlier LJs, was slightly raised to make room for the biggest change - a new engine.

This was a four-cylinder, water-cooled 800cc four-stroke unit producing 41bhp.

The LJ80 sold well in Australia, where it went on sale in 1978, but that was just the start.

When the LJ80 was first exported to the Netherlands in 1978 followed by the rest of Europe, it created and firmly established a whole new market sector for fun 4 x 4 recreational vehicles. LJs and Jimmys are small but rugged machines with great handling capabilities to compensate for their relative lack of power.

The Toyota Land Cruiser is one of Toyota's longest running series of models. As of 2024, the sales of the Land Cruiser are in excess of 10 million units worldwide.

Production of the first generation of the Land Cruiser began in 1951 and subsequently produced versions in hardtop, estate and a cab chassis. The Land Cruiser's reliability and longevity have led to its huge popularity, especially in Australia, where it was extensively tested in the outback in different model forms as well as cold weather tested around the world.

It looks tough and angular with a massive worldwide following amongst the 4 x 4 fans, particularly the FJs, although the earlier models didn’t quite have the same suspension articulation as the Land Rovers when they were also tested by the Australian Army in the outback. Pre 1985 Land Cruisers would bring reliability and practicality to the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge.

What about a bit of Americana as a potential V8 winner? Consider that US rally veteran Gene Henderson was laughed at when he prepared to take on Europe’s best in the 1972 US round of the FIA Championship for Manufacturers (before it became the World Rally Championship) in a Jeep on the Press on Regardless Rally through the forests of Michigan. The duration was for three days and nights with over 330 miles of stages.

Laughter and ridicule were reserved for the large Jeep Wagoneer with permanent 4 x 4 Quadra-Trac drive system from the American Motor Corporation, which Henderson and co-driver Ken Pogue regularly used in SCCA events, but would now be competing at World level.

Such were the taunts of ‘are you gong whaling in that Gene?’ that he called the car Moby Dick which was emblazoned along the flanks of the 4 x 4. Gene and Ken had the last laugh. One of the works Fords crashed, and when the leading Lancia Fulvia of European Champion Harry Kalstrom and John Davenport was running out of brakes, the Wagoneer chased it with all its V8 might into the night until the Lancia flipped trying to stay ahead on a stage with the Jeep’s lights ablaze behind. Henderson stopped to check the crew were OK then blasted off into the lead they were to keep until the end!

In April 1973 the FIA banned four-wheel drive on World Championship rallies.

The ‘80s Panda 4 x 4’s are much sought after today. So much so, you could pay £10,000 to buy one!

One such Panda recently offered for sale, had an intriguing backstory. It was used internally at the vast Mirafiori factory complex in Italy, where vehicles like this are essential for traversing the sprawling expanse of warehouses, office buildings and workshops. Eventually it was released back into the wild, as the Panda 4 x 4 deserved to be, so that it could serve as it was originally intended, to explore adventurous routes, and climb mountain passes.

Produced in March 2001, the svelte machine could be the giant killer amongst its 4 x 4 rivals on the P2P.