PARTNERING WITH A VETERAN DAKAR RALLY CHALLENGER

Team Land Cruiser Put the Pedal to the Metal with G-SHOCK

Fasten your seatbelts, G-SHOCK are riding shotgun with a rally veteran that still packs plenty of horsepower. Burning laps around the legendary Dakar Rally since the mid-90s, Toyota Land Cruiser are now putting the pedal to the metal with the G-SHOCK GW9500 “MUDMAN”, a homage to the toughest rally on earth.

TEAM LAND CRUISER (TLC) TOYOTA AUTO BODY

TEAM LAND CRUISER TOYOTA AUTO BODY

The company team of Toyota Auto Body, a Toyota Group manufacturer of minivans, commercial vehicles, and SUVs. TLC has been participating in the Dakar Rally, considered the world’s most extreme rally, with the Land Cruiser every year since 1995.
In Dakar Rally 2024, TLC won their 11th consecutive victory in the Stock (Production Car) category in a one-two finish, with Car #501 following in 2nd place; a remarkable achievement that adds to the already impressive record of the team.

The Dakar Rally

First coming into focus in 1977, the Dakar Rally was the brainchild of Thierry Sabine, a French motorcycle rider who lost his bearings in the Libyan desert during the Abidjan-Nice Rally. Narrowly escaping death, Sabine was nevertheless mesmerised with the landscape and returned to France determined to spread the word. He then charted a precarious, white-knuckle route that would become notorious the world over.

Retracing the hallowed Dakar Rally road

G-SHOCK and Land Cruiser are retracing the hallowed Dakar Rally road and its modern-day itinerary with their latest collaboration – refuelling the popular G-SHOCK MUDMAN GW-9500 with all the grunt necessary for steep climbs, hairpin corners and gruelling desert terrain. Of course, the rugged MUDMAN was the natural choice – the line long lauded for its stoic mud-resistant DNA. Designed to evoke the feeling of barrelling through the desert at top speed, the paint job is truly a sight to behold, as the sand-coloured, bio-based resin band is blasted with haphazard black paint splatter – an allusion to tracks left by hurtling racers.

Special colours evoking the look of the team’s rally car

The watch features a black and red colour scheme inspired by the Land Cruiser 300 GR Sport, the car raced by TLC in the Dakar Rally. IP is applied to the metal bezel as part of the overall black look, which is set off with red accents, including the red line decorating the button at 3 o’clock and side surfaces. The design evokes the toughness of a racing machine capable of delivering in harsh conditions across an approximately 10,000-km course.

Band design capturing the desert setting of the rally

Designed to capture the feel of racing through desert sands, the sand-colored band is printed with a black splatter pattern that evokes tracks left by speeding racers. IP in the same brown hue is also applied to the guard for the front button.

Official logo to commemorate a special collaboration

As a symbolic design for the official watch actually used in the rally, the band and case back are adorned with the Team Land Cruiser logo. Even more, when the LED backlight is illuminated, a TLC graphic appears on the LCD.

Stick it in fifth gear – it’s time to blaze your own route.

Shiny new gear will have you ready to tackle any environment head-on, with the stainless steel bezel component a novel treatment for the GW9500 model. The duplex LCD also offers a separate compass graphics layer, so you’ll never find yourself adrift in the Libyan desert. Finally, Team Land Cruiser’s signature colours – blue, white and red – provide the final finish alongside the world-renowned TLC logo (which also appears when the LED backlight is illuminated!).

The solid, rugged exterior design features a multi-component structure and independent front button ensuring durability, operability, and a highly comfortable fit.

The top layer of the LCD provides a graphical compass display, while the bottom layer provides large measurement and time displays. The LCD has also been made slimmer to minimise bulk, even while being dual-layer.

Incorporating cut glass with a special glass adhesion method and a Carbon Core Guard structure, the watch has a smaller, slimmer form that delivers everything you want.

Mud-resistant structure to withstand use in the harshest conditions. The front button and three direct sensor buttons feature large, easy-to-operate forms designed to keep mud and water out.

Triple Sensor (digital compass, barometer/altimeter, and thermometer) senses natural changes.

ATTENTION TO MATERIALS

Key resin components used in the case and band are made with bio-based resin. Produced using renewable organic resources, this material is expected to help reduce environmental impact. Recycled materials are used for the special packaging, as well.