Welcome to the confusing world of performance truck racing and production truck marketing. There are clear differences in the vehicles, but the promotional aspects are virtually identical.

Porsche claims the 911 Dakar is just as comfortable off-road as it is on the 405 interstate. Limited to just 2,500 examples, the marketing of this saleable street machine suggests the first overall victory by Porsche in the 1984 Paris-Dakar Rally, which marked the birth of all-wheel-drive in the Porsche 911.

This is why the new 911 Dakar is also offered with an optional Rally Design Package, reminiscent of that winning car. The two-tone paint is in White/Enzian Blue Metallic. This is the first time Porsche has applied the combination of bi-color paint and decorative foiling in series production. Oh, one more thing for wannabes: On the side of the vehicle, the customer can choose an individual race number between 0 and 999.

The Honda Ridgeline Baja Race Truck is a race horse of a different color. It was the eighth win for the Honda Ridgeline in Baja since the start of the program in 2015. It uses the same production-based, Honda Performance Development built turbocharged V6 engine that also powered this year’s entries in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Rolex 24 at the Daytona-winning Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX05, driven by Tom Blomqvist, Helio Castroneves and Oliver Jarvis.

Photo courtesy of and copyright Honda Performance