“Chapeau and goodbye, Wim!” RIP

• A tribute to Wim Luijbregts, successful in the hard practice of rally driving!

The readers of Auto Motor Klassiek are traditional petrolheads with a great interest in old- and youngtimers. Some of them actually own a historic car. Often expertly restored with a lot of patience. And with the intention of regularly giving that proud possession a good run for its money. There is plenty of opportunity for this during the tours. These are organised by the many brand clubs. But a number of owners would like it to be a bit faster. At serious rally events, there is the Historic class for this. And that goes fast. Very fast! And if we are talking about rallying with classics in the Netherlands, the name of Wim Luijbregts immediately comes up. A Dutch rally legend, who made a splash with the most diverse brands. Some called him the father of Dutch rally sport.   

Much honor and admiration

As it turned out in 2022, the end was fast approaching for Wim Luijbregts. And last Sunday Wim actually left us. He was 76 years old. That he has meant a lot internationally in rally sport is evident from the reactions on social media.

"A wonderfully fine person has passed away. Rest in peace Wim, we will not forget you", says one. "Farewell to a fine and special person", says another, writes Valkenswaard24.

Valkenswaard, the Brabant municipality near Eindhoven, where Wim Luijbregts lived and worked his entire life. And where he had his car company. A thorough entrepreneur, the type of car dealer who passionately drove the car company created by the family. A professional with a warm heart, originating from the time when you as a garage owner were proud to be an official car dealer. “We have a car company and we have studied for it,” he often said, to make it clear that he cherished quality, reliability and relationships.

Car guy through and through

No lack of experience. Wim came from a real car family, with a history that goes back more than a hundred years.

He told me in an interview in his striking new building on the edge of Valkenswaard: “In 1917 my grandfather Kees Luijbregts founded the 'Eerste Valkenswaardse Autogarage', a company selling and servicing cars, motorcycles and bicycles. In June 1930 the company was destroyed by fire, but quickly recovered. After the war they expanded to rent cars with chauffeur (with Ford) and made a side step with, don't be alarmed, a weapons trade. In 1961 there was another major fire, which led to the splitting up of the family business. My father Bart senior continued the original company and expanded it with a towing and recovery company.”

Shortly after, Luijbregts began his period as an official car dealer. As a garage owner, he represented the brands of British Leyland, Peugeot and he was most famous for Ford. And in line with the current zeitgeist, a few years ago he transformed his company into a car company in which he sold young- and oldtimers and maintained them. A car man in heart and soul!

34 different rally cars!

Cars were his passion, but motorsports even more so. He had been closely involved with the Eurocircuit in Valkenswaard since 1971. Back then, it was known for its spectacular TV programmes with jumping and tearing rallycross cars.

It was in 1973, the year that Mike Oldfield dominated the charts with Tubaler Bells, that your AMK editor Wim and with him the entire Luijbregts family got to know. After all, they were a fellow British Leyland dealer, so the connection was quickly made at the time.

Regularly stayed in the house on top of their previous garage building on the Eindhovenseweg, in the center of Valkenswaard. And often went to the Eurocircuit. But also witnessed the rallies that Wim drove. And that was always very spectacular! He drove rally for 55 years and he put the Netherlands on the rally map. He drove with 34 different rally cars!

Dutch champion

And Wim Luijbregts was one of the first Dutchmen who participated in the world rally championship in 1969. With a DAF from the factory team. In a separate building he even ran the competition department for DAF in Eindhoven. Something special in the sixties, because the Netherlands was actually a size too small for this. Yet Wim did it!

He kept his rally activities separate from the car dealership. As a result, you saw him appear at the start in many different brands during his long career. Under the motto "During the week I sell them and in the weekend I drive rallies with them", he nevertheless combined the brands he represented in his dealership for British Leyland, Peugeot and Ford.

He was the initiator of the dealer teams of the brands concerned and that gave all parties a huge amount of exposure. And as the crowning glory of his rally work, he became Dutch champion in 1982 with a Mitsubishi Lancer Turbo.

Approachable and stylish

His popularity in the Dutch rally scene was great, mainly because he was so approachable. And Wim Luijbregts was also entrusted with a sense of style. He drove in 1975 with a Triumph Dolomite Sprint the Dutch Championship. Perhaps the most chic rally car we have ever encountered on the Dutch rally paths. Not the fastest, because it was a Group 1 car, so tuning was not allowed.

The deployment of the Triumph Dolomite Sprint as rally car for Wim Luijbregts and navigator (and brother-in-law) Bruno van Traa, was an initiative of importer BL Nederland in Gouda. The aim was to strengthen the image of the Dolomite on the Dutch market. The car was prepared by Special Tuning in England. But the deployment in the Benelux rallies was done entirely by the men from Valkenswaard themselves.

It was launched in, among others, the 24 Hours of Ypres in Belgium, the ELE Rally around Eindhoven, the Tulpenrally, Boucles de Spa, Limburgia Rally, SLS rally, the Hunsrück Rally in Germany (counting for the European Championship) and the Lombard RAC Rally in Great Britain, the traditional end-of-year event on the WRC calendar (World Rally Championship).

The experience of a rally driver

Rallying is perhaps the most intensive branch of motorsport. You are not driving on a closed circuit, where you have learned to estimate every bend after some practice. No, you drive for miles on unknown roads, with constantly changing road and weather conditions. Asphalt, gravel, mud, rain and bright sunshine, it all comes along. You need a well-prepared car for it. One that also simply remains intact.

You need technically skilled mechanics for this. Indeed, not one mechanic but several.

You need a well-equipped service car, sometimes even more, depending on the type of rally. Not only the navigator needs to have a feel for the routes to be driven, but also all the other team members who go along during the rallies. Otherwise you will get lost.

You need a good workshop, with lots of special tools. And if that's not enough, the driving duo must be fit and well-coordinated. A good navigator is indispensable, because otherwise it will never work with all those connecting routes and speed tests.

And finally, the driver must have excellent car control. He must be continuously focused on driving and on what the navigator tells him. With great policy and feeling, he must give the car the spurs on the tests. As hard as he can, but of course keep it intact. Otherwise, everything is for nothing. In daylight, but also often in the dark. In sunshine and in rain, when the rally paths become very slippery.

A Dutch rally legend!

This is roughly how Wim Luijbregts must have experienced his participation in numerous national and international rallies. A Dutch rally legend? Absolutely! Just look at the number of rallies in which the man from Valkenswaard appeared at the start. We have not seen such a rally resume from a Dutchman in the past decades. At most from his contemporary and seven-time Dutch rally champion Jan van der Marel. Or from Henk Vossen, who is still pushing the envelope on the international rally paths. Or perhaps Kevin Abbring will equal him, but then again, he is Wim Luijbregts' protégé.

The multiple Dutch rally champion achieved successes with DAF and he also drove French (Talbot, Peugeot), Italian (Lancia), Swedish (Volvo) and Japanese (Mitsubishi) cars. But most of them were of English origin: Morris Marina, Triumph Dolomite, Ford Focus and Ford Escort Mk1 and Mk2. The mix of brands with which he was successful says more about the capabilities of Wim Luijbregts than that he 'piggybacked' on a brand that happened to have a very strong rally weapon in its model range.

If you just https://www.ewrc-results.com/profile/10917-wim-luijbregts/ click on, then you will immediately understand what we are talking about here. A successful Dutch rally driver, who often went on the international rally paths. Incidentally, he had never heard of quitting. In 2019 he came first, together with brother Bart, in the Dutch Historic Rally Championship 2019 in the RC3 class. His weapon of choice was a very special car: the Ford Escort RS1600 Mk1 of multiple world champion Hannu Mikkola! 

A beautiful tribute

He experienced his last active rallies with the orange Mikkola Escort. His health simply did not allow it anymore. After it was announced in 2022 that he was terminally ill, various initiatives were taken to honor Wim. For example, the Twente Historic Rally (2023) was renamed 'Wim Luijbregts Historic Rally' and the prizes were awarded on the spot by Wim himself.

In the national media, one tribute after another was posted online to honor the rally legend and to give him a pat on the back. At the ELE Rally, his trophy was given a sequel in 2024. The fastest participant at the Historics on the special stages Wintelre and Sint-Oedenrode received the Wim Luijbregts Trophy. A beautiful tribute from the organization of Wim's most beloved rally: the ELE rally around Eindhoven. After that, it became increasingly quiet...

Last Sunday Wim Luijbregts passed away. The loss is great, the memories that remain are beautiful. "Hats off and goodbye, Wim!" RIP

There are several videos on the internet with Wim Luijbregts in the lead role, a small selection of these:

• Rally Retro Report episode 1600: Wim Luijbregts on his career and making good pace notes:
• https://youtu.be/NEKh1cLrELo?si=tPiUMa0imLojJEeL
• Rally Retro Report episode 1603: Wim Luijbregts about the 1990 season with the Lancia Delta Integrale:

After his active rally sport career (last full season is 1990) Wim Luijbregts never left the sport. For years coach of Chiel Bos, Erwin Doctor, Bert de Jong and Kevin Abbring, among others, he was race leader at the EuroCircuit in Valkenswaard and from 2006 he regularly got into a nice Historic Rally Ford again. The last rally with Wim Luijbregts at the start was in 2020 in the Vechtdal Rally with P4 overall, together with brother Bart. In 2019 Luijbregts became 2nd overall in the Historic Twente Rally.

• Rally Retro Report Extra part 2: Historic Rallying with Wim Luijbregts - rallies from 2006/2020.