The Porsche 911 Dakar was supposed to be the 911 Safari.

Porsche's new 911 Dakar, unveiled at the 2022 Los Angeles Auto Show last November, was originally going to be called the 911 Safari, according to the off-road sports car's development director.

In an interview with Edmunds published last week, Thomas Krickelberg, director of the 911 Dakar program, said that the car was called the 911 Safari in the early stages of development, but Porsche had to abandon that plan after Tata Motors refused permission to use the name Tata Motors refused to allow Porsche to use the name. Tata is the rights holder of the Safari name in automotive applications and uses it for a mid-size SUV sold in India.

According to Krickelberg, Porsche needed permission for the Dakar name as well, since it had attributed automotive rights to the Amaury Sports Organization, the organizer of the Dakar Rally. The deal has now been signed.

The Safari name comes from the East African Safari Rally that Porsche competed in during the 1970s, a rally that has been associated with the rugged 911 since 1978, when Swedish rally champion Björn Waldegård entered it in a 911 SC Group 4 racer. In recent years, some companies that produce rugged versions of the older 911s call them 911 Safaris.

Similarly, the name Dakar is a reference to Porsche's participation in the Dakar Rally, particularly its victory in the first attempt in 1984 with a 911-based 953 rally car; this was the first time the 911 was equipped with all-wheel drive.

In an interview with Edmunds, Krickelberg revealed that his team was ready to launch a rugged 911 in 2016. Porsche began investigating the idea as early as 2012, producing a concept named the 911 Vision Safari based on the 991 generation.

According to Krickelberg, the sales team did not think the project would be profitable. For the current 992-generation 911, the sales team was convinced after deciding to reduce development costs and increase production from the originally planned 2,000 to 2,500 units.

If the program proves popular, a more rugged 911 could be on the horizon, Porsche CEO Oliver Blume said in an interview last month.