DAF TurboTwin: The Truck That HUMILIATED Peugeot

The Car Nerd with Jason Hassett · Oct 8, 2026 · 20m

In January 1988, a television helicopter over the Sahara caught something that should not have been possible.

Ari Vatanen was flat out in a works Peugeot 405 Turbo 16.

Then an eleven-tonne truck appeared beside him.

It drew level at more than 200 kilometres an hour.

And then it pulled away.

The truck was the DAF TurboTwin X1.

It had two 11.6-litre diesel engines.

Six turbochargers.

Around 1,200 horsepower.

And it had been built by a Dutch haulier who had decided that simply winning the truck class of the Paris–Dakar wasn't ambitious enough.

He wanted to beat the cars…