The Porsche 964 that Jean-Noël “Popeye” Gaviot raced in this year’s Dakar Classic is up for sale on Racemarket, with an asking price of about €210,000 including VAT.

The car was registered in 1990. Four years later, Jackie Loomans raced it in the Paris–Dakar Rally. Sporting a yellow-and-white livery along with the logos of his Loomans Tooling business, he and navigator Jacky Martens retired. Loomans was one of the last drivers to race a Porsche in the Dakar Rally itself, though the brand has obviously continued to show up at the Classic.

1994 was Loomans’ only Dakar in the Porsche, but his seventh overall. An entrepreneur, Loomans decided to race Dakar for the first time in 1988 after recovering from a brain hemorrhage. The Belgian continued to race Dakar until 2009, after which he started doing the Africa Eco Race. He passed away in 2024.

While Loomans returned to Dakar with other manufacturers like Toyota, Nissan, Mercede, and Bowler, the Porsche was sold to a local driver in Senegal. Gaviot eventually bought the car in 2006 and wanted to use it at the Rallye Transafricaine until that race was called off.

For the Dakar Classic, Gaviot rebuilt the 964 with the help of 2B Autosport in Chambéry. Unsure how to recreate the Loomans livery, he instead opted for the green look from Team Foltène, who fielded a pair of 953s for Jacques Laffite and Jean-Pierre Jabouille in the 1988 race (where Gaviot made his Dakar debut in a Land Cruiser).

Gaviot ran the Dakar Rally until 1991, scoring a best finish of 14th in 1990. He also did raids like the Baja Aragón and Rallye des Pharaons, before switching to vintage rallying in a Porsche 911 SC.

He finished 77th overall, 60th among cars, and fourth for H3.B in January’s Classic.

The 964 sports a 140-liter fuel tank at the rear and 64 liters at the front for approximately a thousand kilometers of range, a Marel & Peylin gearbox, twin-engine air filters, and a tire inflation system. The 3.6-liter engine offers 300 horsepower. Upon buying the car, Gaviot will also provide a set of spare parts and eight wheels.

The Racemarket entry can be found here.

Featured image credit: Victoria Kimie / FOTOP / ASO