Documentary | 26 September 1987

Always one of the calendar's toughest rallies, this one was no exception and the cameramen covered more miles than the cars to bring viewers of this video a dramatic record of the 30 long special stages through West Africa. Winners of the last three Ivory Coast events, Toyota, had a brand new car to run in the 1987 event, the Supra Turbo. With Bjorn Waldegard and Lars-Eric Torph to drive them, Team Europe certainly looked set to continue Japanese success. But it wasn't just the Toyotas who were in good shape. On their appearance, Volkswagen entered ex-Safari Rally cars for Erwin Weber and Kenneth Eriksson. Nissan had 200SXs for Mike Kirkland, Alain Ambrosino and the vastly experienced Shekhar Mehta. Plunging through the undergrowth, roaring along dried-out lakes, lurching into deep water-holes and racing through sparsely populated villages are all featured in this film.