(first posted 9/24/2015. Links to Parts 2, 3 and 4 at bottom) DAF’s roots go back to April 1, 1928, when Hub van Doorne founded the “Commanditaire Vennootschap Hub van Doorne’s Machinefabriek en Constructiewerkplaats”. The startup capital, 10,000 Dutch guilders, was provided by the owner of beerbrewery De Valk in Eindhoven. Van Doorne’s forge and workshop were situated in an extension of the brewery’s main building. That brewery with the extension is now the DAF Museum’s accommodation. And Eindhoven is still DAF’s hometown.
Business flourished, especially the production of all sorts of trailers and semi-trailers, and the production facilities got bigger. In 1932 the company’s new name became “Van Doorne’s Aanhangwagen Fabriek N.V.” Since then known as DAF. An aanhangwagen is a trailer, fabriek means factory. Yet the Van Doorne brothers, Hub and Wim, had another dream and goal: the production of real automobiles, so cars and trucks. Then aanhangwagen could easily be replaced by the Dutch word automobiel, without having to change the letters DAF. The brothers had a long-term vision, that’s for sure.
Pictured above is an unsuspended 1946 agricultural trailer, that could be drawn by horses or by a farm tractor.
DAF’s first automobile was the 1949 A50 truck chassis with a welded frame. Engines from Hercules or Perkins, Fuller transmissions, Timken axles, Ross steering gear, Hardy-Spicer driving shafts, u-joints and wheels and Bosch electrics.
The 1950 chassis in the museum has a 83 hp Perkins P6-80 diesel engine. The chassis was driven to a coachbuilder, like Paul & Van Weelde, to build the cab. Later DAF started the production of its own steel cabs.
Early DAF truck. On the left a 83 hp Perkins P6 6-cylinder diesel, on the right a 91 hp diesel version of the Hercules DJXH 6-cylinder gasoline engine.
Three fire department DAFs from the fifties. DAF offered Perkins diesels and Hercules gasoline engines (both 6-cylinders) in their trucks. In 1956 the most powerful diesel option, the 108 hp Perkins R6, was replaced by the 105 hp Leyland 0.350 engine.
A very rare DAF A10 van, this one was used by the police. The A10, with a payload capacity of 1,000 kg, was introduced in 1950. The engine was a 46 hp Hercules gasoline engine, type IXB-3.
A fully restored 1956 DAF-BOVA bus. Chassis by DAF, bus body by coachbuilder BOVA (Bots Valkenswaard). Originally it had a 102 hp Hercules JXC gasoline engine, later it was replaced by a 135 hp DAF BA 475 gasoline engine.
North America had the Ford C-series and its direct competitors. The Netherlands had these in the sixties. Durable high-quality all-rounders. This generation was introduced in the late fifties, easy recognizable by its grille with capital letters D A F.
The dashboard of those DAF models…
….and a view to the right, where my brother and I often could be found during our school vacations in the early and mid-seventies.
Clean little mixer truck, you don’t see them that small anymore. Mixer trucks typically have four or five axles these days.
A 1968 DAF AZ 1900 DS 6×6 truck, the AWD models had the headlights in the bumper.
This heavy-duty beast has a 165 hp DAF DS 575 turbo diesel.
My favorite classic DAF, the 2000 DO-series, introduced in 1957 as DAF’s new top model. Its cab was wider and was extended to make room for the 165 hp Leyland 11.1 liter 0.680 diesel engine. It was available with a day cab or with a sleeper cab, as such it was DAF’s first big diesel truck for long distance hauling. The 6-speed transmission was supplied by ZF from Germany.
A stunning 1962 DAF AS 2000 DO 6×2 grain tipper. Fully restored to its original condition by the museum’s volunteers. It used to tow a matching (colors and set-up) drawbar trailer with three axles.
The grain tipper’s dashboard and classic steering wheel.
Looking through the windshield we see five other classics, four of them are cabovers. On the left a 75-series; the 75/85-series was introduced in the early nineties. This model evolved into the CF-series (Bryce from NZ drove one). The tall white truck is a 95-series with a Space Cab. The 95-series was introduced in 1987 as DAF’s new top model, it became the European Truck of the Year in 1988.
The next white truck is a 2800-series, introduced in 1973. The 2800-series was the successor of the famous 1962 DAF 2600-series. The yellow cabover truck is the all-new tilt cab generation, introduced in 1969.
On the left a DAF Torpedo truck. A torpedo truck is a synonym for a conventional truck. DAF introduced this model in 1957, mainly to satisfy the need of customers who insisted on driving a conventional truck. On the right a 2600-series.
The same conventional DAF from another point of view.
Mr. Brekelmans & Sons from Geldrop, a town nearby Eindhoven, chose this 2600-series tractor for long distance hauling.
This 1984 DAF 3300 Space Cab is fully original and was basically parked in the museum right after its last working day. Some paperwork and the driver’s cap are still on the dashboard. This was the first factory DAF model with a raised roof for extra space and comfort items.
The gauge on the left is the tachograph, speedometer, odometer and clock.
Retired truck driver Arno, now volunteering at the museum, next to DAF’s current flagship. The XF model with a 510 hp 12.9 liter engine, meeting the Euro 6 emission standards. Arno gave me some useful information about several trucks in the museum and allowed me to climb into the cab of some of my favorites. Thanks again Arno !
The brand new XF in the museum has an automatic transmission. The floor is completely flat, and thanks to its raised roof you can stand up straight here and walk from door to door.
The museum also has an engine room, where several ancestors of today’s PACCAR engines have gathered. DAF’s engine factory was opened in 1957, the production of their own complete rear axles started a year later. Leyland licensed DAF to build the 0.350 engine, that was the starting point. DAF called it the D 575 engine, a direct injected 6-cylinder 5.75 liter diesel engine, 120 SAE hp. Perkins diesel engines and Hercules gasoline engines were no longer offered from the late fifties onwards. Along with the diesel engines, DAF also offered 4.77 liter gasoline engines. Meanwhile the 575 diesel engine was also available with a turbo charger, the 165 hp DS 575 engine. Many turbo charged DAF diesels would follow, and in 1973 DAF was the first truckmaker that offered diesel engines with a turbo charger combined with intercooling.
A 212 hp DK 1160 marine diesel, naturally aspirated. On the left we see a heavy-duty frame with tandem drive axles, good for 26,000 kg (57,320 lbs). Also visible is a part of an F16 landing gear, as built by DAF Special Products.
A golden engine, and rightfully so ! The 1160 (11.6 liter) engine series was the heart of all big DAF trucks for almost thirty years, starting in 1968. It derived from the 11.1 liter Leyland O.680 diesel engine.
DAF generator set, used by the fire department.
Three Paris-Dakar rallyraid trucks from the eighties, driven by rally legend Jan de Rooy. The first one (on the left) is the 1987 DAF Turbo Twin II, then the 1988 DAF 95 Turbo Twin X1 and the yellow truck was used in the 1985 rally and was called “The Bull”. These 4×4 monsters each have two 11.6 liter diesel engines to drive the axles. The DAF 95 Turbo Twin X1 was the most powerful and fastest: 1,200 hp (600 hp per axle) and a top speed of circa 220 km/h. It even surprised, and overtook, professional rally driver Ari Vatanen in his factory Peugeot rally car.
A closer look at The Bull.
And finally a DAF race truck with a 1,000 hp 12 liter version of the 11.6 liter truck diesel. Four valves per cylinder, two Garrett turbo chargers, two water-to-air intercoolers. As impressive as the power output is its max. torque: 4,000 Nm (2,950 ft-lb).
I hope you enjoyed the ride. Since there’s way too much to see in the museum to put in just one article, I’ll be back with the military vehicles, the cars, and the specialties in separate articles.
Pretty cool museum ! .
-Nate
Great article. I love the old “frog” DAF’s.
Thank you for this wonderful museum tour. I’ve always been intrigued with DAF, since they obviously were an exceptionally plucky company. Fascinating to note how their earliest models were a hybrid of American and European components.
Did DAF design and build that “torpedo” cab, or was it outsourced?
The cab was designed and built by DAF. But I’d say it’s clearly inspired by contemporary US trucks.
DAF only built three factory conventional truck models: the 1957 model in the museum, the heavy-duty 1980 N2800 (for African conditions) with a Magirus-Deutz cab, and in the early seventies there was this one below, the extremely rare N2500.
I’m very sure you recognize it immediately, International owned 1/3th of the DAF shares back then. It does have a DAF diesel though.
Excellent article, and now I have a new destination for my next trip back to NL!
Having lived in your excellent country, DAFs of all kinds hold a special fascination for me – and the stark simplicity of the museum space is echt Nederlands.
The museum, street view.
They do seem more American than other European trucks I’ve seen. There is something Ford like about those extended nose models.
And those are the other conventionals mentioned (the one on the right is a custom done by a private company I believe. PACCAR has a policy of producing COEs in Europe, conventionals in the USA, so no factory “Torpedoes” anymore)
DAF dealership De Burgh builds those non-factory new conventionals. It has the big XF cab. Speaking of “custom built”….
DAF also has a new plant in Brazil, although I don’t know if it has been opened yet.
I’d say PACCAR will not produce a conventional DAF (these are still popular in Brazil) but who knows – M-B’s Brazilian offerings include such a truck and it’s an M-B, not Freightliner design…
Incidentally DAFs are very popular in Israel too, I think we had the 2600 first in the late 60s.
Another neat big boy, a Kenworth K500 oilfield truck with the cab of the (Euro 5) DAF XF.
The current light Peterbilt and Kenworth cabover trucks also have the DAF / Renault cab, as used on the DAF LF-series.
Johannes,
KW also used the DAF Cabtek for a prototype prime mover for the IDF which was tested in 2014 but (as far as I know) not accpted…
Cheers
T
They still are to a degree wher Ive been working lately they have several CF tippers all with Eaton Fuller 18speed Road Rangers manual shift transmissions, automatics are not popular with drivers, Theres a previous model DAF that Johannes missed that also came badged as Foden which used CAT engines with proper Jacobs engine brakes, I like those too all part of the Paccar family but DAF really do mix the parts well.
My last truck was a DAF CF with automatic. The transmission was definitely not popular with me. Utter crap.
The A10 police van looks ready for action. Good payload for 46hp. They must have kept those in service forever since they would probably only be used for civil disturbances, which couldn’t have been that common in Holland.
It is great that DAF is preserving so much of the long heritage. So many times, the institutional memory slips away with the constant ownership changes these days.
Actually, the DAF Museum is not “owned” or run by PACCAR-DAF. It’s a foundation, with a substantial group of volunteers. Of course a lot of them are retired truck drivers and retired DAF employees. Financial recourses: gifts, donors, friends, sponsors.
“The gauge on the left is the tachograph, speedometer, odometer and clock.”: I saw this solution also in the old ’70’s and ’80’s Ikarus buses of Yugoslavia too… This DAF article is very very nice.
Always a pleasure to read one of your articles. Doesn’t hurt that I have always had a distant love affair with big trucks. Well done.
Cool stuff, DAF has been on my mental roadmap since I got a couple of Matchbox 2600 flatbeds that originally included a loads of plastic I beams. I still have at least one, sadly sans load parked alongside a contemporary Matchbox Mercedes dropside and trailer, which lost their canvas tops as well.
The 2600/2800 and derivatives are the definitive DAF trucks to me and the museum is great looking. I’m really glad there is a collection of Turbo Twin race trucks.
Here’s a picture of the DAF 2800 Turbo Intercooling in the museum, the 1973-1987 generation of big DAFs with the 11.6 liter engine.
Of course Ari was surprised who expects a truck to do 140mph on dirt.
Nice article !
Keep up the good work.
I am looking fw to your next article. Perhaps Ruska ?
Hmmm…..one thing is for sure. DAFs were not built on Volkswagen-underpinnings.
Those are some sweet rides. I love that green color, and the cabs are so airy. If that new job can accommodate the average standing Netherlander, I’m sure I could wear a top hat! Great Article, Johannes.
Volvos have the same, walk around inside the cab, its a euro thing comfortable good handling trucks that are almost silent to ride in at highway speeds.
Ditto on the green – it’s an iconic, bright-but-sober color for a 60’s “work” truck. Nothing flashy, but still some style. Would love to find a ’65-66 Sweptline in this color, which Dodge definitely offered.
I was a Daf mechanic in Nederland for four years right out of school and owned a daf 600 and a daffodils deluxe. I moved to Canada but I still have a soft spot for everything daf. My wife and I visited the museum last year and it was wonderful.
Welkom Kees!
Barko, regarding that “new job”. I’m sure I could wear a miter, while standing up straight. Not all Nederlanders are giants….
That seems to be a wonderful museum with some extremely nice displays. Something about the DAF designs speak to me, I’m not sure which are my favorites (but probably the 70’s and 80’s era examples, I like the square Bauhaus style with the round headlights).
I particularly like the older steering wheels with the classic DAF crest as on the grain tipper, that is a work of art.
A terrific tour that fed my ever growing fascination with trucks. I’m looking forward to the next article.
They made some great looking trucks – the 2000 and 2600 are drop-dead classic shapes. That A10 van looks like an upscaled wooden toy. Nice visit.
I thought the same thing–the A10 van looks almost like a cartoon representation of “vintage van”. Toy-like works too. The projecting lamps are very eye-like somehow…rather anthropomorphic.
Cool to see the bigger trucks too, especially as we never had them in the USA. Matchbox did produce a 1/64 DAF cabover, I believe a 3000, which looked much like the 2800s you’ve photographed. My collection included that one, in Ferrari livery…
Could be a 3200, 3300 or 3600. The 3200 was a sort of “final edition”, with a modernized late-eighties type of grille.
All of them are members of the 1973 2800-series generation, like the white tractor above in my comment. Available as day cab, sleeper cab or as the tall space cab in the eighties (like the 3300 in the article).
There you go: DAF 3300 Space Cab. That black panel above the front fender looks a bit odd, I never saw a DAF cab painted like that.
Nice, I started out on a DAF 2600, then got a 2100, a 2800 and finally a DAF 85. Still my favorite brand of trucks.
excelente articulo creo que es muy bueno yo fui un amador de Daf en Chile desde el año 90 hasta el 98 fui el técnico a cargo de las entregas y reparaciones de estas unidades para mi Daf lo supera a todos
Very nice!
Good going, Johannes! You know that the old truck salesman would love this.
LMAO! 😄 The Peugeot factory car driver was “surprised” after being overtaken by the The Bull. That means he got spanked like a Ferrari being passed by a refuse truck on the highway.
Were the engines in the three Paris-Dakar rallyraid trucks and Racing Truck all loosely based on the 11.1-litre Leyland 0.680?
Yes. In the late sixties, the Leyland O.680 diesel engine (also used by DAF in their heaviest models) evolved into DAF’s own 1160-series of engines with 11.6 liter displacement. Naturally aspirated or turbocharged, from 1973 onwards also turbocharged and intercooled.
The 11.6 liter engine was replaced by an all-new 12.6 liter power unit in 1997. Later on, 12.9 liter displacement. Called the PACCAR MX-13 engine these days.
Did DAF ever explore any other van projects between the rare 1950 DAF A10 van and 1989 Leyland DAF 300 Series, be it based from pre-existing DAF cars or sourced from another company?