The Toyota Land Cruiser is not an uncommon face at the Dakar Classic. The 2026 edition alone had 26, with Julian Johan finishing the best of them in fifth overall, while the HDJ80 series won the Classic outright four years in a row from 2022 to 2025.

Officially, Christophe Chabeuf’s ride appeared on the entry list as a Toyota Land Cruiser HZJ75. However, it’s actually a unique prototype called the Toyota PHZJ75 and nicknamed “Protoy”. He plans to bring the car back for a third run at the Dakar Classic in 2027, this time with Patrice Laurent as navigator.

Protoy was built by Atelier Mécanique Services for the 1999 Granada–Dakar Rally. It utilizes the chassis of a Land Cruiser HZJ75 but also incorporates parts from the HDJ80, such as the dual coil-spring suspension and tire inflation system. The vehicle weighs in at 2,450 kilograms and boasts an engine capable of producing 220 horsepower.

Richard Romagny drove Protoy in the 1999 Dakar, where he finished 35th overall and sixth among T3.2 vehicles. Romagny put the car, along with most of his classic collection, up for auction in 2021.

Chabeuf, a former French special operations soldier who currently runs the Rétropassion vintage restoration shop, and his friend Olivier Delrieu bought Protoy in 2024 for training purposes. The duo had raced the Dakar Classic earlier that year with Compagnie Saharienne, finishing 37th overall in an HZJ78.

Team SSP partnered with Chabeuf to field Protoy starting with the 2025 Classic, where he and Didier Fraisse placed 59th outright. Thierry Fresard, founder of the Saint-Honoré Paris watch brand, served as navigator for the 2026 race as Protoy finished 42nd.

SSP will also support Chabeuf and Laurent’s 2027 entry. Laurent has competed in rallies across Morocco and Tunisia on a quad and in an HDJ80. In late September, Laurent plans to do a 6,000-kilometer “extreme raid” across the Murzuq Desert in Libya.

Featured image credit: Rodrigo Barreto / FOTOP / ASO