This magazine, Paris-Dakar 85, appears to be a souvenir program from this famous rally which took place in 1985. The race ran for 29 consecutive years, from 1979 through 2007. It seems that the city of Vence sponsored a car for this particular race and this magazine is devoted to that team.
The bottom of the cover of the magazine identifies Equipe ‘VILLE DE VENCE’ with three names: Pierre Galgani, Alex Pétrikovsky, and Nadine — presumably the crew members of a team sponsored or supported by the city of Vence. It appears to be signed on the cover, but I’m unable to read the signatures.
The first inside page gives a long list of people, companies, and institutions thanked for their solidarity and participation in the project “VILLE DE VENCE.” The list includes: The Municipalité de Vence, local journalists, shops, artists, and clubs; businesses providing material support (e.g., Metafer, Garnero, Amelio); media outlets (Radio City, Radio Côte, FR3 TV); and contributors in other locations on the rally route (Paris, Algeria, Niger, Mali, Senegal), who helped with logistics, hospitality, or support at different rally stages.
The magazine is full of photos, information and lots and lots of small advertisements.
The rally started on January 1, 1985 in Versailles, near Paris. The course covered 13,000 kilometers, passing through France, Algeria, Niger, Mali, and Mauritania before ending in Dakar, Senegal. It was one of the most grueling routes in the history of the event, crossing harsh desert terrains like the Ténéré in Niger. 1985 was notorious for extreme sandstorms in the Sahara, which caused many competitors to become lost for days. This edition cemented the Dakar Rally’s reputation as not just a race, but a brutal survival challenge.
There were a record number of participants at the time: 552 vehicles (motorcycles, cars, and trucks) started the rally, but less than half reached the finish line. Belgian rider Gaston Rahier won in the motorbikes category on a BMW. This was Rahier’s second consecutive Paris-Dakar win (he also won in 1984). French driver Patrick Zaniroli, co-driven by Jean Da Silva, took the overall victory in the car category in a Mitsubishi Pajero. The truck category was won by Czech driver Karel Loprais in a Tatra.
If you have any questions about any of this magazine, or would just like more information, drop me an email at steve@steveandcaroleinvence.com.