Zarooq Sand Racer: Road-legal version of cross-country rally car will have 500bhp

Hailing from the United Arab Emirates, the aptly-named Sand Racer was designed for events like the Dakar

The car was developed alongside Spanish company Campos Racing

Some cars have names that leave you wondering what they actually are. The Zarooq Sand Racer isn’t one of them.

Hailing from the United Arab Emirates, this cross-country rally car was designed for events like the Dakar. And the manufacturer says it plans to build a road-legal version, which ought to be a hit on the school run.

Despite being an off-roader, the Sand Racer is driven only by its rear wheels

Despite being an off-roader, the Sand Racer is driven only by its rear wheels. They’re turned by a mid-mounted 3.5-litre V6 in standard form; this develops 304bhp, though in full race trim it’ll be replaced by a 500bhp unit.

That’s not exactly going to be slow, especially given a kerb weight of just 1000kg. This is a racer, after all – and to that end, it was developed alongside Spanish company Campos Racing, a veteran of prepping track cars for GP2, Formula 3 and so on.

The Sand Racer is likely to be available from around £66,000

What’s all this likely to cost? From about £66,000. Though homologated models with creature comforts can be expected to both cost and weigh more.