Historically, the Dutch are an industrious lot with a liking for stretching the envelope, literally and physically.
Take this image, for instance, of a slick conventional almost certainly conjured from DAF’s new generation XF and XG cab-overs and currently doing the rounds among truck spotters across Europe.
On the face of it, you could be excused for thinking it’s something secret from DAF’s inner sanctum, but you’d be wrong.
As a close colleague from the northern hemisphere tells us, the Dutch have an interesting habit of converting cab-overs to what they call ‘Torpedo trucks’. Effectively, conventionals based on an existing cab-over design.
In this case, and as the personalised number plate reveals, it’s a creation by Dutch DAF dealer Bakker Bedrijfswagens. But don’t hold your breath waiting for it to become a production reality.
Simply, it’s unlikely to happen but that obviously didn’t stop the dealer from conceiving and then going to considerable lengths to create the bonneted DAF.
However, this isn’t the first time a Dutchman has turned a cab-over into a conventional. In 2012, Dutch haulier A. Jansen Transport worked with his local DAF dealer to create what they called the XT105 model from an XF cab-over, all to celebrate the transport company’s 40th anniversary.
There was a time, however, when DAF was actually involved with conventional models such as the DAF-badged International Paystar pictured here in 1973, equipped with a DAF engine and later replaced by the DAF N-2500 series in a further development with International.
Fortunately, the latest ‘Torpedo’ at least looks far sleeker and more appealing than some previous shots.