Jan de Rooy is no longer there, but his legacy still lives on.
Yesterday we lost a legendary driver: Dakar legend Jan de Rooy. Fortunately, he was able to retell all his Dakar adventures and eventually reached the wonderful age of 80. He was also able to experience how his son Gerard followed in his footsteps.
Jan de Rooy not only upheld national pride because he was Dutch, he also drove Dutch trucks for most of his career. That started in 1982 with a DAF NTT2800, nicknamed 'De Neus'. In total, De Rooy has driven the Dakar eleven times with a DAF.
TheBull
What you may not have known is that two of these classic DAF trucks have been put back into use. In fact, you can do this one rent from Team de Rooy. So if you want to drive a rally with an original Jan de Rooy truck, that is possible.
One of the trucks is 'The Bull', which you see in the header photo. With this, Jan de Rooy won the heavy truck classification in 1985. The Bull was restored a few years ago and very recently (this month) saw action during the Dakar Classic.
Two-Headed Monster
In addition to The Bull, 'the Two-headed Monster' from 1982 is also back in operation. This truck owes its nickname to the fact that it has a cabin (and an engine) at both the front and the back. The double head had not been looked at for years, but this Dakar veteran has also been completely renovated in the recent past.
Unfortunately, Jan de Rooy was unable to achieve any results with the Two-Headed Monster. He led the truck rankings, but eventually retired due to a seized wheel bearing. De Rooy then tried to hitch a ride with the helicopter to arrange a wheel bearing, but unfortunately that was not allowed.
The double head has now also been restored. This truck also made an appearance during the Dakar Classic. And this truck can also be rented from Team de Rooy. In this way, Jan de Rooy's legacy remains alive and well.
This article Imagine yourself Jan de Rooy with his original DAF first appeared on Autoblog.nl.
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