DAF 55

In August 1969 there was a minor facelift of the whole model range and a delivery version became available, essentially a 55 estate without a rear seat.The 55 Marathon featured wider steel wheels, exterior striping and a brake booster was added for safety and comfort.In 1971 the coupe received normal doors with pillars, since the earlier pillarless design proved to be leaky and noisy at speed.A 55 won the 1968 Alpine Rally, and in late 1968 Rob Slotemaker finished 17th out of 100 contestants in the grueling 16500 km London-Sydney Marathon.Jan de Rooy, of Paris Dakar fame, built his own 4-wheel drive version, with a mid mounted Ford BDA engine coupled to a special Variomatic and campaigned it with great success on the international rallycross theatre throughout the early 1970s.