The official name of the Paris-Dakar Rally in French is "le Dakar", and it is also commonly referred to simply as the "Paris-Dakar". Each year, the name of the lead sponsor or location name is added to the name. For example, the official name of the rally that started in Lisbon, January 6th, 2007 was the Euromilhoes Lisbon-Dakar 2007.The Paris-Dakar, considered the world's most demanding motor sports race, was created in 1979 by French adventurist Thierry Sabine and since 1981 it has been recognized as an official race of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile and Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme with the 2007 rally marking the 29th running.

One of the biggest characteristics of this race is that unlike the WRC (World Rally Championship), both pros and amateurs are able to enter the race. In addition, a large variety of vehicle types can be entered including passenger cars, sports cars, sidecars, buggies, and trucks. As a rule, vehicles can range anywhere from being unmodified production vehicles to one-of-a-kind customized cars resulting in only the Paris-Dakar Rally having such a wide variety and well-rounded field of different cars.

Every year on January 1st (January 6th in 2007), the race begins in front of the Versailles Palace in the outskirts of Paris where the rally begins amid applause and vocal support from spectators to the racers heading into the Sahara Desert. The race runs through Barcelona, Spain and then crosses onto the African continent, and ends after about 1000-2000 km in the Senegal capital of Dakar with about 450 vehicles racing through torrid 50-degree heat for 2 to 3 weeks to reach the finish line. Because the race traverses the punishing Sahara Desert with virtually no towns or emergency facilities in between, many injuries and in some cases even deaths have occurred. One of the other reasons it is known as the world's most demanding race is that the course also travels through politically unstable countries such as in the Western Sahara.
The actual race course changes annually with some years when both the start and finish lines have changed. Regardless of whether the start, finish, or course are changed, the race is still commonly referred to as the Paris-Dakar Rally.

The 4-wheel vehicle category of the Paris-Dakar Rally is broadly divided into the two categories of prototypes and unmodified production marathon classes. In addition to typical 4-wheel passenger cars, other vehicles used in the race include motorcycles (motor), trucks (camions), and buggies. In the past, these categories consisted of the three groups of T1 (unmodified production vehicle class), T2 (production-based modified vehicle class), and T3 (prototype vehicle). For automobiles, the camion class was also added to these groups. However since 2001, the group classifications were modified as follows.

* Commonly sold production vehicles that have only been modified with parts concerning safety including roll bars, spare gas tank, etc. Switching of major parts is prohibited.
* Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body participates in the production group (unmodified production vehicles).

The Toyota Land Cruiser has become a favorite of many privateers who enter the Paris-Dakar Rally with a production model. The Land Cruiser has demonstrated unshakable reliability in the unmodified production model/marathon class. The Land Cruiser started competing in the first race in 1979 through 1984 being solely driven by privateers. For the 17th event in 1995, the Land Cruiser was entered under the Team Araco (Now TLC). The following is a review of the intense competition waged by the Land Cruiser in its 27 year history in the Paris-Dakar Rally.

The original Paris-Dakar Rally started as the Oasis Paris-Dakar Rally with a total of 167 vehicles chasing a faraway dream through the Sahara Desert. Only 100 vehicles finished the race, and of these 15 were Toyota vehicles.
The 2nd rally was the 1980 Oasis Paris-Dakar Rally with a total of 203 vehicles, of which 105 finished. Eight of the finishing vehicles were Land Cruisers and all drivers who made it to Dakar were considered winners and heroes.
The 3rd version in 1981 took place as the "Paris-Match" Rally. This was the first year that the race was recognized as an official rally by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile. The distance of the race was also extended from 9,000 km to 10,000 km. and it attracted 289 vehicles with only 42 finishing within the allotted time. Of these finishers, nine were Toyota vehicles. In the marathon class, a Land Cruiser BJ43 finished in 2nd place and gained instant popularity. A private team from Japan headed by Kiichiro Yokota, Team ACP, entered the race for the first time this year by driving a Land Cruiser FJ60 with passenger car styling that attracted major attention. Although not within the allotted time, Yokota did manage to finish the race thus becoming the first ever Japanese person to reach the goal in Dakar.
From 1982, the race officially became known as the Paris-Alger-Dakar Rally. Toyota vehicles performed exceptionally well this year as the 4 Runner won in the modified diesel class and finished 9th overall. The Land Cruiser were champions of the diesel class and entered with the 1500cc Carina with wins in two-wheel with victories in the three classes of overall, production, and marathon which surprised the French and thus earning the nickname of "Flying Carina". Of the 73 vehicles finishing within the allotted time, almost one-third were Toyota vehicles.
In 1983, the 5th "Paris-Alger-Dakar Le Point Europe1" Rally was hit by sandstorms in the Tenere Desert, resulting in a low 27% finish rate for the 400 vehicles that entered the race. Amidst these grueling conditions, a Land Cruiser FJ40 with driver Ratet was the top finisher in the modified production gasoline class.

In 1984, the 6th "Paris-Alger-Dakar VSD Europe1 Pastis 51"Rally had attracted the world's top works teams such as the Porsche 911/4WD, Open Manta 4WD, and Mercedes-Benz inevitably making it a high-speed rally. Of the 74 vehicles that finished the race, 17 were from Toyota which had entered 55 vehicles. In the marathon class, the FJ60 finished 3rd under the steady driving of Ratet. and the FJ45 finished 2nd in overall rankings. As for the teams from Japan, Team ACP with Ishihara and Yokota finished 46th overall in an FJ61V, and Odawara and Matsumae finished 6th in the assistant class in a BJ61.
In 1985, the year of the 7th "Paris-Alger-Dakar VSD Olympia" Rally consisted of 425 four-wheel vehicles, of which 65 were Land Cruisers. For privateers, the highly reliable Land Cruiser was instrumental as a support car for works and motorcycle teams. Also in this year, famous Land Cruiser driver Ratet competed for the first time in a prototype FJ60 and finished 4th overall. Fifteen of the 55 vehicles to finish the race were Toyota vehicles, demonstrating their typical undoubted toughness.
For the 1987 and 9th "Paris-Alger-Dakar Telefunken" Rally, Team ACP raced the Toyota Land Cruiser BJ71V named "Toyota Naruhodo", in the modified diesel category of the marathon class and captured first place. Driver Ratet finished 4th overall, and Toyota swept the top three positions in the unmodified production category. In total, Toyota won two championships.
The 10th "Pioneer Rally Paris-Alger-Dakar" Rally held in 1988 covered 13,000 km in 22 days and attracted 420 vehicles wit the well-equipped works teams competing fiercely. While finishing the race proved difficult for privateers, Toyota Land Cruisers led by Ratet swept the top three positions in the unmodified and modified production categories. Land Cruisers also finished 7th and 10th overall, an achievement for production vehicles that only the Land Cruiser can claim. This performance in the marathon class also received high praise in Europe. Furthermore, a team from the regional Japanese area of Shikoku participating as a privateer, although not within the allotted time, managed to finish the race and Team ACP accomplished 3rd place in the marathon diesel class.
The achievements of privateers from the 1989 11th "Paris-Tunis-Dakar" Rally to the 1995 17th event led to the participation of teams from the 17th rally onwards.

This marked the first year of Team Araco's (Now TLC) entry, which raced a single Land Cruiser 80 in the unmodified production diesel class also as part of the commemoration of the Land Cruiser's achievement of reaching 2.5 million production units. Although the Land Cruiser maintained first place for the first half of the race, on the very first day of the second half, the team lost its supporting camion to the Mauritania desert. Despite the lack of any replacement parts, the Land Cruiser continued to battle on. Although it was not able to capture the class championship, the Land Cruiser managed to finish the race fourth in its class.
Vehicle No. 1: Asaga-Ito: 4th in its class

In its second year, Team Araco sought to increase its chances of winning by entering two Land Cruiser 80 vehicles. The first vehicle carried the same members as the previous year, while the second vehicle featured veteran French rally driver, G. Sarazan, and Araco employee (Now Toyota Auto Body) Takashi Fujisawa as navigator for the grueling challenge. As other entrants fell out of the race, the two Land Cruiser 80s led the entire race and finished 1st-2nd in their class. The two vehicles also claimed the top two positions for all diesel vehicles, proving the robustness of the Land Cruiser in the world's most prominent rally.
Vehicle No. 1: Asaga-Ito: 2nd in its class
Vehicle No. 2: Sarazan-Fujisawa: 1st in its class

The Team Araco (Now TLC) lineup was the same as the previous year with the two Land Cruiser 80s and same team members but with Araco employee (Now Toyota Auto Body) Yoshihiro Ito, the previous year's team manager, taking over as team director. This served as a new challenge for Toyota Team Araco. Vehicle number 2 demonstrated blazing speed, but unfortunately flipped over in the 10th stage at high speed and had to retire. Perhaps inspired by this, vehicle number 1 picked up the pace and began its assault on vehicles ahead. Although it could not catch the leaders, it was able to finish 2nd in its class.
Vehicle No. 1: Asaga-Ito: 2nd in its class
Vehicle No. 2: Sarazan-Fujisawa: retired

The lineup of two Land Cruisers remained unchanged, but Hajime Ito (Araco employee/now Toyota Auto Body) was appointed as the navigator for vehicle number 1 together with Tadahiro Tsuzuki being appointed as the team director. The race was highly demanding with about half the entrants dropping out in the first half of the race. Despite this, the team's Land Cruiser 80s thoroughly demonstrated its tremendous potential, sweeping the top two positions in its class and putting a gap of over 13 hours between themselves and the 3rd placed finisher. This marked the final run for the Land Cruiser 80, which at the time had about 537,000 units produced since 1990.
Vehicle No. 1: Asaga-Ito: 2nd in its class
Vehicle No. 2: Sarazan-Fujisawa: 1st in its class

The 21st rally marked the first entry for the Land Cruiser 100 and the fifth consecutive entry for Team Araco. The drivers for the two vehicles remained the same while the navigators were changed, marking the debut for G. Trouble who navigated the 2nd vehicle. This also was the last race as a driver for 59-year old G. Sarazan, making it an important event as to determine whether he could end his career in victory. Because this was the first competition for the Land Cruiser 100, many tests were performed prior to the race primarily to check the strength around the independent front suspension. The race was started with confidence and continuing from last year, the two vehicles were able to finish 1st-2nd in the unmodified production diesel class placing over 10 hours between themselves and the 3rd placed finisher. Claiming an impressive victory on its debut, the new Land Cruiser 100 demonstrated its power to the world.
Vehicle No. 1: Asaga-Fujisawa: 2nd in its class
Vehicle No. 2: Sarazan-Trouble: 1st in its class

The first Paris-Dakar Rally course to traverse Africa started out with a total distance of over 10,000 km. However, the distance was shortened when four days were cancelled due to information regarding terrorist activity. New drivers Ratet and Garcin in vehicle number 2 teamed for an effective all-French combination and fully tapped the great potential of the already mature Land Cruiser 100. For the third year in a row, Toyota finished 1st-2nd in the unmodified production diesel class.
Vehicle No. 1: Asaga-Fujisawa: 2nd in its class
Vehicle No. 2: Ratet-Garcin: 1st in its class

2001 marked the 50th year since the creation of the Land Cruiser as the team remained the same from the previous year. The rally was held over a longer than usual 21 days and with the new restriction of no air mechanic support, the race turned into a relentless battle. Vehicle number 2 suffered major damage to its left front suspension during the race, but the strengthened supporting squad helped to overcome this. Although vehicle number 1 had to retire due to engine trouble in the 17th stage, thus preventing another 1st-2nd sweep, vehicle number 2 was able to win the championship for its class.
Vehicle No. 1: Asaga-Fujisawa: retired
Vehicle No. 2: Ratet-Garcin: 1st in its class

The sudden death of former team general director Takehiko Arakawa abided the team to fulfill his wishes of capturing a 5th straight title and another 1st-2nd finish. Mounting a furious charge in the first 2-day consecutive marathon stage in Paris-Dakar Rally history, vehicle number 2 rose quickly in the standings to capture 1st place of the entire unmodified production group and 9th place overall which was the best finish ever for Toyota. Driver Asaga and new navigator Daisuke Arakawa in vehicle number 1 also captured 2nd place.
Vehicle No. 1: Asaga-Arakawa: 2nd in its class
Vehicle No. 2: Ratet-Garcin: 1st in its class

This year's course started in Marseille, France, and crossed the African continent eastwards towards the finish line of Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. This year was the first for the team to enter three vehicles which also included a gasoline vehicle, with the heightened goal of capturing a group victory in the entire unmodified production group. Expectations were high for vehicle number 3 with new driver Katayama who had rich experience in many speed races. Unfortunately, the team was saddled with several problems right from the start. Particularly vexing was an electrical problem with the fuel pump that led to the engine not starting, and repeated air intake problems caused by the powder-like sand typical in volcanic regions. For the vehicle that entered the unmodified production class, the air cleaner opening was not permitted to be modified; leaving the only alternative of cleaning it carefully by hand. Finally in the 12th stage, this nightmarish adventure ended prematurely for vehicle number 3 as it flipped over and was forced to retire. However, vehicles 1 and 2 ran smoothly and continued their winning streak by finishing 1st-2nd in the unmodified production diesel class.
Vehicle No. 1: Asaga-Arakawa: 2nd in its class
Vehicle No. 2: Ratet-Garcin: 1st in its class
Vehicle No. 3: Katayama-Trouble: retired

In its 10th year of participating in the Paris-Dakar Rally, Toyota Team Araco (Now TLC) departed the start in Clermont-Ferrand, France, in its quest for a 7th straight title. Continuing from the previous year, the team was made up of three vehicles. The vehicle number 3 team including driver Ukyo Katayama went to the Moroccan desert for training and vehicle testing during 2003. However, all three vehicles encountered minor problems and eventually had to retire. Vehicle number 3 continued valiantly with team Katayama-Arakawa battling on, but sadly had to retire just before reaching the finish line in the 16th stage. The percentage of vehicles finishing the race was at an unprecedented low, with only about 10% of vehicles in the unmodified production diesel class finishing the race. Although the number of consecutive victories ended at six, the team thoroughly analyzed the reasons behind the results and vowed to use this experience as an incentive for even greater future success.
Vehicle No. 1: Asaga-Ito: retired
Vehicle No. 2: Ratet-Lame: retired
Vehicle No. 3: Katayama-Arakawa: retired

The Paris-Dakar team with three Land Cruiser 100s, which had competed until the previous year under the Toyota Team Araco flag, competed from this year as Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body. The previous year marked the team's 10th year of participation, but with all three vehicles retiring from the race and therefore this year served as an opportunity for redemption as team members were largely unchanged from the previous year. The only exceptions were an employee from Toyota Auto Body, Yasushi Numata, who was selected as navigator for vehicle number 3 and Hajime Ito, who had served in both roles as navigator and director, solely focused on his position as director.
The three Toyota Land Cruisers maintained the lead in their class from the crossing of the Mediterranean Sea. The team continued to steadily improve their position as they entered the African stage, but then began to encounter trouble starting on the 7th day when the vehicles entered the desert stages. Despite this, the team overcame all problems and maintained their 1st-2nd-3rd position in the 9th stage and crossed the finish line in the same order. Finishing in the top three positions of the overall unmodified production group was a Dakar Rally first.
Vehicle No. 3: Asaga-Numata: 1st place
Vehicle No. 2: Ratet-Cattarelli: 2nd place
Vehicle No. 1: Katayama-Arakawa: 3rd place

Continuing from the previous year, TLC entered three Toyota Land Cruiser 100s for the race. The newly hired Yoshio Ikeda teamed with Daisuke Arakawa (Toyota Auto Body employee) in vehicle number 1, vehicle number 2 again featured the French combination of JJ Ratet and Bruno Cattarelli, and vehicle number 3 had the reigning champion pair of Toshinori Asaga and Yasushi Numata (also Toyota Auto Body employees). The three Land Cruiser 100s managed to navigate the European stage, which typically causes heavy damage to vehicles, without incident and headed to the African stage where it could demonstrate its ability. The first half of the race ended with Ratet's team in vehicle number 2 in first place and Ikeda's team in vehicle number 1 in second place of the T2 group, and vehicle number 3 rising to fourth place in the T2 diesel group. Unfortunately, vehicle number 3 later experienced problems and suffered damage to its rear differential and because the vehicle was entered in the unmodified production category which prohibits changing major parts, the team was forced to remove it. Meanwhile, vehicles number 1 and 2 continued steadily and maintained their leads to again finish 1st-2nd in the T2 group and despite its problems, vehicle number 3 was able to finish the race 26th overall. The Land Cruisers were again able to demonstrate their toughness and high level of performance.
Vehicle No. 1: Ikeda-Arakawa: 2nd place
Vehicle No. 2: Ratet-Cattarelli: 1st place
Vehicle No. 3: Asaga-Numata: No placement within class; 26th overall

TLC again entered three Toyota Land Cruisers in this year's race. The lineup was changed from the previous year, with vehicle number 1 featuring Ratet-Cattarelli, Mitsuhashi and Miura (employee navigator) in vehicle number 2, and Yamada and Arakawa in vehicle number 3. In the 1st SS (Special Stage), the three were off to a good start placing themselves at 1st-2nd-3rd. On the last stage of the first half of the race on day 7, the vehicles faced a difficult stage of over 600 km of a varying terrain of pistes, offroads, and dunes. However vehicle number 1 maintained third place, vehicle number 2 maintained first place, and vehicle number 3 was right behind at fourth place. While other vehicles ran viciously, the three TLC Toyota Land Cruiser 100s were still able to demonstrate their inherent high level of toughness. At the end of the 10th day, vehicle number 1 was in 2nd, vehicle number 2 in 1st, and vehicle number 3 in 4th position as excitement built up entering the final stage. Unfortunately on the 11th day, vehicle number 1 encountered machine problems that caused it to veer off course and encounter an accident. The other two vehicles kept a safe margin while continuing to push forward with vehicle number 2 finishing 4th in the end. Vehicle number 3, which had employed a strategy of backing up vehicle number 2, was even able to finish as 3rd. On January 21, vehicle number 2 won the unmodified production group which marked the 3rd consecutive victory for TLC in the same category, an achievement that had never before been accomplished. The rally concluded on the 15th day in the Dakar outskirts of Lac Rose.
Vehicle No. 1: Ratet-Cattarelli: retired in 11th stage
Vehicle No. 2: Mitsuhashi-Miura: 1st place
Vehicle No. 3: Yamada-Arakawa: 3rd place