In my opinion rallying — and, by extension, other types of off-road racing like the Dakar Rally — has produced the coolest race cars of all time. When discussing the most iconic rally cars people always talk about things like the Audi Quattro, Subaru Impreza STI and Lancia Stratos, but I like the weird stuff even more. You now have the opportunity to buy one of the less-talked-about but still extremely rad rallying machines at the Broad Arrow auction happening later this month at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, where a 1990 Citroën ZX Rallye Raid will go under the hammer.
As with Group B monsters like the Peugeot 205 T16 and Lancia Delta S4, this Citroën is based on a small front-wheel-drive hatchback, the ZX that was launched in 1991. But the ZX Rallye Raid has a turbocharged engine mounted in the middle, four-wheel drive, locking diffs and a wild aero package — and unlike other rallying series, Dakar doesn’t require companies to produce a homologated roadgoing version of the cars, so Citroën could make the Rallye Raid as wildly different from a normal ZX as it wanted.
A Pharaohs Rally winner
It paid off. This particular ZX Rallye Raid made its debut at the 1990 Pharaohs Rally with ArI Vatanen behind the wheel, coming fourth overall in the 1,900-mile race that started and ended in Cairo, with the finish line at the pyramids of Giza. It then competed in the Dakar Rally in 1991, 1992 and 1993, coming in sixth place (out of 184!) in ’91 with Alain Ambrosino behind the wheel, and seventh the following two years, driven by Pierre Lartigue in ’92 and Ambrosino in ’93. Citroën fielded as many as five ZX Rallye Raids every year, and they would go on to win Dakar overall in 1991, 1994, 1995 and 1996. Later versions got even wilder styling, too.
After being retired following the 1993 Paris-Tangier-Dakar Rally, this ZX Rallye Raid was initially used for engine testing before being put into the Citroën Heritage collection in 1994, where it remained until 2011 when it was acquired by its first private owner. They took it to Team SMG Challenge for a two-year restoration in which the ZX was taken down to its bare chassis, the powertrain was disassembled, and basically every component was overhauled so the car could be used again. In 2021 it was bought by a second owner, who sent it back to SMG for another refresh. Wearing the red livery that it had for its later-year races, the ZX was brought to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, but since then it has been repainted to its original yellow Camel livery, thank god. BGMsport has also recently installed a new fuel cell and made six new wheels so the originals could be preserved.
Turbo power, kevlar body
The most powerful version of a normal Citroën ZX had just 167 horsepower, but the Rallye Raid’s mid-mounted turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-4 put out 320 horses in this one’s Evo I specification. The Rallye Raid has a seven-speed manual transmission located transversely at the back of the engine, a self-locking differential for both front and rear axles and a limited-slip center diff, fully independent off-road suspension and larger brakes.
Its overall shape may be similar to a standard ZX, sharing things like the doors, window shapes and lights, but the Rallye Raid’s bodywork is all made from carbon-fiber and kevlar. It weighs less than 3,200 pounds in total, which, combined with a near-130-mph top speed, helps explain why it was so dominant in off-road racing. Out of the 42 races that ZX Rallye Raids competed in, 36 of them were won by one of the Citroëns, and in addition to those four first-place finishes at the Dakar Rally, a ZX won every FIA Cross-Country Rally World Cup from 1993 to 1997.
It can be yours for the low price of $500,000-ish
Broad Arrow will be auctioning off this ZX Rallye Raid on Sunday, May 25, and the house estimates a sale price of around $530,000 to $587,000. Given all of the recent work it seems like the ZX is ready to hit the road (or, at least, the trails) as soon as a new owner waves their paddle. The auction house says the car will come with “a trove of information in its history file” including maps, pace notes, spectator guides and timesheets from races it competed in. You’ll also get two Citroën Sport racing suits from 1991. It has a Greek registration, and its European VAT taxes have been paid.
It might not be the first, or the third, or the sixth car that someone brings up when they talk about rallying and Dakar, but the ZX Rallye Raid is certainly one of the coolest racers out there. I really do think this thing is awesome, and it’s worth going through Broad Arrow’s full gallery.
Broad Arrow
