Imagine my embarrassment on recent MAN press trip to Germany when I was told that I was too fat to drive a truck. OK, so I think the actual phrase used was 'well built', but we all know what that means! I'm well aware that I had a few too many In-n-Out burgers on my recent trip to the States, but too fat to drive a truck? That's like accusing someone of being too arrogant to drive a BMW!
In my defence these weren't usual trucks, these were some of the heavily modified MANs that will be competing in the Dakar Rally early next year.
They had been equipped with racing seats and harnesses, and that's where the problem arose.
But I did manage to squeeze into a few of the passenger seats, and I'm so glad that I did. I've been in some unusual trucks in my time, but nothing comes close to off-roading in one of these. It blasted through the German countryside with all the subtlety of a nuclear explosion. On several occasions we had what must have been a good few feet of air beneath all four tyres, and at one point I glanced over at the speedo to discover that we were doing 150kmph on a narrow dirt track - sideways!
By the end of the day I had been humiliated, had strained my neck and was facing a dry-cleaning bill for my trousers (from the mud) - but it was still one of the best press trips I've ever been on.
TGA would happily do 190kmph - but is limited to 150kmph for safety reasons!