The Porsche 953 was a heavily modified variant of the 911, designed and built specifically to compete in the 1984 Paris–Dakar Rally. It was a short lived model, as it was replaced in 1985 by the 959. It is sometimes referred to as the 911 4x4, as it used the developmental, manually controlled four-wheel drive system that was intended to be used on the 959. Travelling on an extremely enhanced suspension, powered by a 300 bhp (224 kW), 6-cylinder engine, and weighing in at 2,750 lb (1,247 kg), it was extremely successful. Three of them were entered into the Paris-Dakar Rally, one taking overall first place.^[1]

This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (February 2019)