Round 11, September 22nd-26th
Winners of the last three Ivory Coast events, Toyota, had a brand new car to run in the 1987 event, the Supra Turbo.
And with Bjorn Waldegard and Lars-Eric Torph to drive them, Team Europe certainly looked set to continue Japanese success.
Always one of the calendar's toughest rallies, this one was no exception and the cameramen covered more miles than the cars to bring viewers of this video a dramatic record of the 30 long special stages through West Africa.
But it wasn't just the Toyotas who were in good shape.
On their appearance, Volkswagen entered ex-Safari Rally cars for Erwin Weber and Kenneth Eriksson.
And Nissan had 200SXs for Mike Kirkland, Alain Ambrosino and the vastly experienced Shekhar Mehta.
Plunging through the undergrowth, roaring along dried-out lakes, lurching into deep water-holes and racing through sparsely populated villages are all featured in this film.
Sometimes, too, the totally unexpected influences proceedings.
Could Eriksson in the little Golf GTI pull of its first world win? Watch this video and learn for yourself.