Tenrai Dispatcher

The **Tenrai Dispatcher** is a fanonical Mud Plugger created by JustAlex93 and featured in *MotorStorm: Return to the Wild*.

## Details

The Dispatcher is a line of four-wheel drive off-road vehicles and SUVs manufactured by Tenrai, offered in both a three-door short wheelbase (SWB) chassis or a five-door long wheelbase (LWB) chassis, the latter of which was offered in pickup truck and cab chassis variants. There are also offerings for either petrol or diesel engines. Since the early 1950s, the Dispatcher was sold to both military and civilian customers.

For racing enthusiasts, most especially those who are into rally raid, there were a number of Dispatchers that were prepped for racing over the years, in events such as the Dakar rally. Among these racing-prepped Dispatchers, there was one of two which raced in '87 that stands out, whether for battling its way to 9th overall or the fact that it was sponsored by a major brand of fruit-flavored soda.

In 1986, **T**enrai **T**echnical **I**nstitute **E**urope (**TTIE**), which is based in Spain, had prepared two Dispatcher racing trucks for the 1987 Dakar rally. This racing special is powered by a 2,800cc Inline-4 turbodiesel engine making 146 horsepower and outputting plenty of torque. It had a top speed of 93 mph on any terrain. The trucks were given sponsorship from Frutas Soda, particularly to advertise Frutas Limon (Frutas Lemon).

On New Years' Day 1987, the two trucks, numbered 211 and 212, lined up with 310 other vehicles at the starting line of a grueling 8,078 mile race from Europe to Dakar. Things went as well as one would expect them to, with the Tenrai support truck having broken down on the second stage, leaving the two Dispatchers without spare tires to work with for the rest of the race. #212 was eventually forced to withdraw after rolling down a dune, but #211 fought on to the very end, being the first diesel vehicle to arrive to the finish line and finishing 9th place overall.

Once they had served their purpose, the trucks were retired. While #212's current whereabouts are unknown, #211 was offered to the Salvador Claret south of Girona, Spain. In 2016, after 30 years of neglect, Tenrai's Spanish crew started a restoration project for #211 with help from the only remaining member of the 1987 team still working at TTIE. Funded by Tenrai, the efforts to restore #211 took two years. The reasons; Many parts of the engine were corroded, the front axle was badly damaged, and the electrics were attacked by a ravenous family of rats. Thankfully, however, the resoration team had the old drawings and service manuals from TTIE to turn to in order to get old #211 back into shape.

Among the 'Stormers, the cross-country rally trucks based on the 3rd generation Dispatchers proved to be the most popular, though there are some who prefer to use the later model racing Dispatchers.

## Gallery

### 3rd Generation

'87 Dispatcher Frutas Limon #211 (Player livery)'87 Dispatcher Frutas Limon #212'88 Dispatcher Proto Frutas Naranja #252 (Player livery)Repo Dispatcher #219 (Driven by Jerry The Repoman)Repo Dispatcher Proto #226TTIE-Marleau Disptacher Proto #134 (Driven by Baz Johnson)Rivera Hnos. Dispatcher (Driven by Matt Mabe)White Dispatcher (Player livery)TTIE-Avance Norte Dispatcher Proto (Driven by Oevynd Aartson)Magenta Dispatcher Proto (Driven by Louhi)Grande Caldo Dispatcher (Player livery)MADD Dispatcher (Driven by Simone Chadwick)Nebula Oil Dispatcher (Driven by Mira Hawk)Turbo Dakar Edition DispatcherWalsh livery