An unexpected winning model
Anyone who used a car in the grueling Paris to Dakar long-distance rally that had not been produced in three years was quite convinced of its reliability and quality. If at the end the result is a first-class placement, this is nothing less than a sporting sensation. This construct is not only imagination, but this is exactly what happened to the Volvo factory team in 1983.
The basis of the sporting success was the Volvo Type C-303 – an all-wheel drive, two-axle vehicle from the C-300 family, whose origins date back to the late 1960s. The series production began in 1974 and ended in 1980 after the Volvo factory had produced nearly 8,000 copies.
On January 20th, 1983, the worldwide press agencies reported that the Swedish Volvo factory team with the driver Hasse Henriksson, the co-driver Sture Bernharsson, and the mechanic John Granäng finished first at the rally “Paris-Dakar in the class of “light trucks up to 10 tons”. In the final result of over all classes, the trio took the 20th place and among all participating trucks they ranked second. Back than this result could not be overestimated simply because the fifth edition of the long-distance rally through the African continent passed the almost endless and dreaded Ténéré Desert for the first time. The winning car technically largely corresponded to the series production that had ended production three years earlier. The Volvo mechanics only added an 80 gallon fuel tank, a roll bar that was welded to the outside of the body, and additional headlights. The engine was modified to operate on low octane gasoline and additional instruments were added to the cockpit – there were no more additional changes.
