American off-road legend Curt LeDuc tried his hand at the Dakar Rally at the turn of the millennium with a Kia Sportage, which now has a new home. LeDuc put his Kia up for sale on Monday, which was eventually sold to a friend who plans to reassemble it.

A 2015 inductee into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame, LeDuc was scouted by Kia alongside fellow American and current Sonora Rally director Darren Skilton to race in the 2000 Paris–Dakar–Cairo Rally. Both drove identically prepared Kia Sportages in the T3.1 class. LeDuc would finish 41st overall with a best run of 25th in the penultimate stage.

The duo returned to Dakar with Kia a year later, where LeDuc placed 39th. However, the final result doesn’t reflect the pace he showed as he strung together five straight top-15 stage finishes to cap off the rally, including three top tens and a best finish of seventh in Stage 16.

LeDuc recalled the cars were loaded onto an Air France cargo plane at Los Angeles International Airport for Europe ahead of the race. At its conclusion, it was flown from Senegal back to the United States and displayed at the Chicago Auto Show.

In the two decades after Dakar, the Sportage has since been torn down while Kia no longer does international rally raids (though there are reports of a revival starting 2026). The V6 engine and seats are gone, but the body is still intact along with its powder-coated parts. The frame is custom built and based on that of a Trophy Truck, while the front spindles and hubs come from a Ford F-150 and the front differential from General Motors. It features a nine-inch full-floater assembly and comes with two fuel cells.

LeDuc described it as a “big project to put together,” but one that’s “great for” those who want to race in vintage rallies like NORRA or the Dakar Classic.

Soon after posting it for sale for $4,500, LeDuc said the car had been “sold to a friend who will put it back together.”