American desert raids have their roots in the 60’s, when hippies rebuilt their Beetles in order to have some fun in mud, gravel and desert sand. Even VW Typ 181s (called “The thing”) were commonly used (see picture below this paragraph). Today, trophy trucks and buggies have nothing in common with their hippie predecessors. They are built for professional competitions: a single component often costs more than 100.000 Dollars. And the participants don’t start all at once, but one by one with a 60 seconds gap, similar to the WRC series. Enjoy the pictures below – they were taken at this year’s Mint 400 event. You can find more information about the rally raid on the official website http://www.themint400.com/.