Kickin' Up Dust

The Safari Special archival project documents the first decade of off-road racing. Founder Tim Martin inherited his love of cars from his grandfather, but it wasn't until he found a trove of photos the old man had taken back in the '70s at the Baja 1000 that the Safari Special concept took shape: ten years, ten races, and ten cars in tribute to the early days of off-road.

Since 1967, the Baja 1000 has hosted top drivers for a grueling race through the Mexican desert. In its first year, the winners raced a now-iconic Meyers Manx #10 buggy built by engineer Jim Chamberlain. With Jim's help, Safari Special built a recreation of the original #10 and a period-correct #69 car for this year's Mexican 1000 - an offshoot of the original known as "the happiest race on Earth."

Happy though it may be, the Mexican 1000 is still a demanding five-day trek through the desert, so we wanted to make sure the Safari Special crew was properly outfitted for their journey. We hooked them up with duds for the race, and to celebrate their successful run we custom-printed some signature styles built for the open road - or the unspoiled desert.