Hyundai Lantra 1.5
You never forget your first love. That’s why we look back with proud first car owners to that time when they started driving with… Well, with what actually? Frank Jacobs from Oegstgeest embarked on the 3FM Dakar adventure in 2010 with, according to him, the most boring family car: a Hyundai Lantra!
For your education you had to do an internship, and you managed to convince the university that the 3FM Dakar was a suitable option. How did you manage that?
“For my mechanical engineering education I had to look for an internship, but I wanted it to be a bit exciting. So I decided to convince the school that participating in the 3FM Dakar for the Glass House could also be an educational internship. There is a technical aspect involved with working on the car. The administration thought it was cool and agreed.”
And that’s how you ended up in the Sahara with a €400 Lantra?
“Indeed. I was allowed to take over this Hyundai Lantra from my aunt for €400. That worked out well, because according to the rules you couldn’t participate with a car that had cost more than €500. Together with my father Hans, I covered 9,000 kilometers in the most Spartan car you can imagine. No power steering, no air conditioning and no radio. Extremely basic, haha.”
Isn’t such a front-wheel drive Hyundai with little ground clearance completely unsuitable for that sandbox?
“You would think so, but apart from three flat tires we had no significant setbacks. I remember the candidate who participated with an old Mercedes and constantly had breakdowns, while the Lantra cheerfully continued bouncing along. Beforehand, it seemed like a good idea to install shock absorbers with longer travel, but when we noticed how terribly the thing drove on asphalt, we very quickly put the original shock absorbers back. The only technical adjustment we ultimately made was installing engine protection. Optical tuning couldn’t be missing either. On the back there was an emblem with ‘1.5 with optional turbo’ and we had applied extra fast racing stripes with duct tape. Student nonsense, really.”
Any other crazy experiences during that trip?
“The most beautiful ride was in the Atlas Mountains. There we started at the bottom of the mountain in the heat, only to end up in a thick layer of snow after a few hours of climbing. Then we had to turn back because the Lantra on summer tires really couldn’t get through that. Otherwise it was just extremely cool. Baking pancakes in the middle of the desert, building campfires and sleeping in a small tent.”
And those Playboy magazines?
“As a committee member of a student association, I was always busy collecting things. Playboy had once sent me a box full of magazines and I decided to take them along. You never know what they might be good for and I had heard that the Moroccan police could sometimes be annoying. When we ended up in a police check at one point, I strategically placed one of those Playboys on the dashboard. I can tell you that we were allowed to continue without any delay, but with one less Playboy.”
How much did you ultimately raise for the Glass House?
“After the trip, we were able to hand over €3,000, partly thanks to my mother Ank. She was very active during our trip in gathering sponsors, which allowed us to reach that amount.”
What happened to the Lantra in the end?
“My sister drove it for a while longer, but the thing eventually came to its end with a broken gearbox. After our trip, there was Sahara sand everywhere, also in the engine and gearbox, and that probably caused problems. But it completed the journey without complaint. That’s class and it was an unforgettable father-and-son experience.”
