UAE-built Zarooq Sand Racer Road Car revealed!
Road-legal dune-racer designed and made in the UAE – now available to order!
By Shahzad Sheikh
Check this out – a road-legal rally-raid style car that’s specifically designed for the UAE desert and built right here in the Emirates. The Zarooq Sand Racer is brainchild of former French racing champion, Bruno Laffite and Mohammed Al Qadi, formerly operations director at Yar Marina Circuit.
Named after the Schockari Sand Racer – the fastest and most agile snake in the desert – the car was designed by Anthony Jannarelly, who also designed the W Motors Lykan Hypersport. The car is manufactured in the UAE in partnership with Jannarelly & Juillot Special, with the chassis designed by Campos Racing GP2.
There’s a 3.5-litre V6 mid-mounted behind the seats producing between 300-500bhp in a car that weighs just 950kg, yet comes with a closed cockpit and air conditioning.
There’s upto 45cm suspension travel to cope with the requirements of what is essentially an off-road racer. In fact this will also form the basis of a single-make championship in the UAE. They’re even talking of building an off-road racing circuit in Dubai – can’t wait to see that!
No word on what the drivetrain is, or where the engine is being sourced from – though I’d personally guess it’s a Nissan unit for durability and tuneability (plus the French connection).
More details will be revealed around the Abu Dhabi F1 GP in late November, although they are taking orders now with first deliveries expected early next year. The first 20 cars will be a special Inaugural Editions with prices ranging from US$80,000-160,000.
In terms of looks and set-up it reminds me a lot of the Local Motors Rally Fighter I test drove over two years ago – it this is anywhere near as much fun, it may well be worth the money!
Looks a lot like the Local Motors Rally Fighter.
Don’t rule out an LS power train either, they’re bulletproof.
Interested in this though as buying a rally fighter comes with a catch, you’ve got to build it yourself at their factory, which sounds cool but when you’re working and you’re paying a lot for one seems pretty irritating, but you learn a lot which is cool.
Also I heard rally fighters, as incredible as they are off-road with a big v8 up front but they still maintain a 50-50 weight distribution, are difficult to register in the UAE.
I can see this being a hit in the UAE and I’m excited to start seeing them around!
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