Pieter Peerlings showed up to the Morocco Desert Challenge in a very unusual ride: a six-wheeled car built by Thierry de Montcorgé to race the 1984 Paris–Dakar Rally, which the latter dubbed the “Jules II Proto”.

41 years after it raced for the first time, Peerlings acquired Jules II and restored it to form for the MDC. Naturally, de Montcorgé was thrilled when he saw it driving through the Moroccan desert.

“Thank you very much, I’m very happy to see this car running again,” wrote de Montcorgé in a WhatsApp message to Peerlings with winking, thumbs up, and clapping emojis. “Don’t hesitate to send me photos.”

De Montcorgé was known as quite a playboy in his prime, and one with rather unique ambitions. In 1981, he entered the Paris–Dakar Rally with what was technically a Rolls-Royce Corniche; in reality, it had the frame of a Toyota Land Cruiser BJ45 and a Corvette V8 engine while the Corniche bodywork was custom-made. Known as “Jules” after sponsor Christian Dior’s cologne brand and built by the late Michel Mokrycki, it ultimately retired. The first Jules was auctioned off in November for roughly €500,000.

After two more Dakars in a Mercedes 280 GE, de Montcorgé decided to try something even crazier by building a six-wheeler. Known as Jules II as the sponsorship remained, the car also used a Chevy V8 along with a Porsche 935 transmission while the body was built from Kevlar. It took him roughly 18 months to build the 6×4 prototype. However, a chassis failure knocked him out after four stages.

Jules II was then abandoned and traded hands multiple times before Peerlings’ Sir Norman Lewis Racing Team acquired and restored it with the help of Belgian company Vintage Garage.

Similar to the rally tractor in the Truck class, Jules II certainly stands out among the Cars entered. A 41-year-old car was obviously not going to win the overall, and it currently sits at the bottom of the order with 400 hours from penalties for not finishing and starting, but Peerlings was mostly eager to see how it fares in the desert.

Even if not contending, the team noted the car gets “better every day!”

Featured image credit: Sir Norman Lewis Racing Team