We heard lots of weird things today, but this one tops the list. Bentley is set to enter the next Rally Dakar, and if that wasn’t strange enough for a luxury car maker, they are going with the EXP 9F concept. That, for those of you who may not know, is the ugly SUV they revealed in Geneva earlier this year.

The EXP is a concept car, so there must be only one in existence. Is Bentley going to get rid of it in a dignified way by entering it in the world’s toughest rally? Maybe incinerate it in the desert? After all, the car didn’t receive a very good press.

Not so. Apparently Bentley is going rallying with this car to create a motorsport pedigree for it before its production and launch. Good news is, this is probably just to test the platform, which also underpins the Lamborghini Urus. The design might not make it into production after all.

Bentley is reportedly buying back the amazing Touareg Dakar machines which VW sold to privateers when they switched to WRC, to use them as the base for their own Dakar program. It’s not clear if Bentley is going to use the same diesel engine that powers the Touareg, or will put one of its own powertrains in the rally car.

Source: CAR