Note: DAFs, with their Variomatic belt-CVT transmissions, can go backwards as fast as they can forwards; which was destined to be put to good use.
Hat tip to Wolfgang!
CC Cinema: The Dutch Know How To Have More Fun On Wheels, Backwards or Forwards
– Posted on February 7, 2015
much obliged!
I’ve seen it before, but I always get a kick out of it.
So is this still going on, or was it just a phenomena in the 80s? I can’t imagine any DAFs being left for the purpose.
These are parts from a very popular TV show, the episodes with the cars were broadcasted somewhere around 1980 and later years.
Filmed on the Zandvoort racing circuit and Valkenswaard rallycross circuit.
Nobody cared about them DAF cars back then. Might as well pick one up for (almost) free and have some fun with it ! They would have ended up on the junkyard anyway…
Was this the halftime show for some other racing event, or did all those people show up to see DAFs go backwards?
Can’t say us dutch don’t have a sense of humour. “I just played a comedy festival in Holland. You CAN make the Dutch laugh, but if you don’t they’ll stare at you until you cry.”
As far as I can remember these were the main events, so just for the TV shows.
We still have this kind of events where a lot of people show up. But the toys have grown:
Here are some Ginaf rally raid trucks. With Cummins power. And watch the independent suspension. This event takes place just before the Dakar rally starts; you can have a really close look at the vehicles and you can meet the drivers.
Or simply taken without payment. DAFs were stolen in an alarming rate the weeks preceding a race.
“Me gras ! Me gras !” (My lawn ! My lawn !) when those little DAFs go off the track, into the grass.
About 35 years ago these TV-shows were trending topic the next day on high school. Among the boys, that is. Shouting “Me gras ! Me gras !”
Meanwhile the true fans of these unique (because Variomatic) little DAFs are crying their eyes out when they see this classic alternative demolition derby. Ideal for this kind of fun though, since they went as fast in R as in D.
.
When the Dutch had changed the driving side from right hand to left?
I don’t think the Dutch had ever gone through this, the Swedes on the other hand switched on September 3, 1967
And the British will wait until the earth reverses its rotation.
This is great. I’ve laughed until the tears blurred what was going on. And there is still more to watch as I’ve just skipped around.
Another interesting part is at 12:20 with the trailer races. A ’77 Impala is up first followed by a colonnade Buick Regal that whoops the competition.
And I think that Buick drives straight over every cone! Slalom? What’s that?
There are a surprising number of big American cars. True to form, they seem to be fastest off the line, but a handful in the curves…
There is a surprising amount of ‘Merican cars in there.
American cars were much more common in the 70s in Europe than they are today. You know, fuel prices…
…..and currency exchange rates. I suspect that most American cars in Europe belonged to American military.
Not quite. American cars were very common in the fifties, sixties and early seventies. Especially among folks who made it in life, either legally or illegally.
And then the seventies arrived. European cars got better, bigger and gained horsepower. Then of course the factor fuel prices. And last but certainly not least: the rise of Mercedes-Benz (W116 !).
Mainstream Euro-brands also introduced big (to Europeans) sedans with 6 or 8 cylinder engines. With a very decent level of luxury and comfort.
Yep
Up until the early 70s, American cars were the best in the world. European cars were better on certain types of race tracks and in ancient crowded cities with ancient narrow streets designed for pedestrian traffic. But real life durability and comfort was best with large American cars in most environments.
A well-to-do Arab man once told me: “Everyone buys 2 cars in the middle east. A Mercedes for driving short distance in the city, and a Ford Crown Vic or Cadillac for driving longer distance.”
Hilarious.
Odd that many – but not all – of the clips are mirror-imaged. Any idea why?
To get around copyright restrictions. YouTube searches for images that match copyrighted material; if they’re mirrored then they don’t scan as being identical to the unmirrored original and won’t get detected and removed.
Or so I’ve heard.
This was the highlight of the school year, I think they did it two years in a row as well.
In the same era a dutch schoolboys dreams would entail Jan De Rooy killing it in the DAF turbo twin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2Xar-CD6MM) and maybe a Dakar 205 and/or Porsche.
We all had the Camel trophy stickers too.
In those days there were exactly two national channels that was it. No tv during the day either. So lucky not to have been born later on.
I believe this must have taken place 1985ish.
Oh yes…Jan de Rooy. Nickname “The Bear”. A chain smoker, laughing at the guys who did workouts to get in shape for the Paris-Dakar rally. He just left his office, climbed in his superb DAF rally trucks and drove the Dakar. It was his annual vacation during the eighties.
In the video you posted he passed the factory Peugeot rally raid car in the Sahara desert. With his 10,000 kg DAF X1 with two 11.6 liter turbo diesels at full speed. The Peugeot was driven by Ari Vatanen. Jan’s Turbo Twin trucks did well over 200 km/h.
There used to be another clip on Youtube, maybe someone can find. It showed the reverse races played in reverse. Just when you thought you saw it all…..
By the way I love the Dutch language. But it makes me think: Ricola!
That’s because of the way those city slickers from the completely urbanized western part (where the TV stations are) of the country are pronouncing the letter g. It doesn’t sound funny to my south-eastern ears. It sounds rather horrible.
I can’t listen to the Dutch language very long. It gives me a headache. It sounds close enough to English that my brain tries to decipher it and that makes my head hurt.
That’s because Dutch, like English, is a Germanic language (the West Germanic family).
A school in my country means the same as a school in your country. With a different pronunciation, of course.
Yes, but German does not sound like English. In fact, Portuguese sounds more like English than German does and Portuguese is not even Germanic.
A funny example I’ve always remembered from French lessons is the French word “mannequin”. It comes from the Dutch word “manneke”, a boy or a short guy (“Man”… another word that means the same in Dutch as in English. Unlike vrouw and woman).
To me (native language English, and a speaker of fair to poor German) Dutch sounds like “fake German” to me. Like someone trying to sound like they’re speaking German but making up the words…
Na also sowas, Christian….
That’s entertainment !!!
What is the blue 2 door with square headlights in the trailer race at around 14.00
and also seen earlier at 12.00 ?
got it , think its a 64 Opel Admiral
While its fun to watch , sometimes it hurts to see nice cars like that one abused.
I thought it was a Ford Taunus 17M (1971).
It hurts my feelings too when a seemingly o.k. car gets demolished. But I assume these had no chance of making the next MOT or equivalent.
Watch the introduction theme of the “Gearz” TV shows. They are crushing an NSU! That hurt me every time I saw it.
https://www.staceydavid.com/home