Spa-Sofia-Liege was not all about exclusive cars and automobiles. But would you ever consider taking a 750cc car for a +5500km long endurance rally up to Sofia and back?

Well,… that is exactly what they did in 1962, 1963 and 1964: The “DAFFODIL” cars from the Dutch “Van Doorne” factory were sent out on a mission. Total of 119 cars -99 cars= 20 cars!

In the 1963 edition only 20 cars made it to the finish, and for the first time in history, a car with 750cc finished the arduous race. The Daf 600 with 22hp was shown to the public in 1958 at the AutoRAI. The Daf had a first-of –a-kind VARIOMATIC (fully automatic) transmission for its 2cylinder 4stroke engine. The Liège-Sofia-Liège Daf had a boxer air cooled 750cc engine… Almost a Porsche!

The Belgians Nokin-Kakert (96) and Colinet-Ransy (76) both gave it a first try in 1962, without success. Nokin-Kakert kept their belief in the boxer engine and gave it another shot in 1963 (68). Ransy was experienced and convinced Norbert Rebetez into the Daffodil adventure (60) that same year. Rob Gorris and Oscar Rosenblatt had the heavy task to the Netherland’s pride and joy in ‘63, but they had to give up with engine trouble. Nokin-Kakert were still in the race when arriving at Novi, with 4500km already behind them, and only 1100km to go to reach Spa. Unluckily, on their way home, they had to give up as well.

This left only Ransy-Rebetez as a 1963 Liège-Sofia-Liège survivor on their arrival in Spa, after 4 days and nights. Not surprisingly, the Van Dooren company made good publicity with this stunt!

Was the Daffodil a Wolf in sheep cloths? We can see a slightly different "boxed" dashboard with a rev counter (going to 6000) left from the speedometer. The drivers' seat has been replaced with a sports seat providing more side support. There is a tunnel box fitted for the maps and two window demisters plugged on the front window. These demisters had the tendency to crack the window since they only heated up very locally. This Daf car was 6 Volt but had a generator instead of the regular dynamo. That was to provide the extra lights (and demisters) with sufficient energy. The lights were protected with mesh light guards. Look at the extra centered top-wiper and of course the extra roof top search light. The standard rear view mirror is hidden behind a bigger one that has been added. The hood has extra retainers to keep it in place, and underneath the front bumper you can see the engine shielding protecting it from stones and rocks. Maybe all of this came in handy, but it is surprising to see that the carpets were retained… Most likely since there was a surplus of horsepower anyway?

(pictures: A. van Geel, Daf museum)