Building trailers, semi-trailers, and an eclectic variety of other, on-/off-road transport related products for both the civilian market and the military. That was DAF in a nutshell, especially in the thirties and second half of the forties. Founder Hub van Doorne (1900-1979) was a technical genius and a fervent collector of patents, you know.
Developing and manufacturing complete fuel tankers was one of those DAF jobs. An example is this post-war, military DAF YF-101 ‘sneltanker’ semi-trailer. It could fill up the Gloster Meteor jet fighters of the Dutch Army Aviation Brigade in three minutes, instead of the usual 20 minutes (at least).
The later YF-102, as used by the U.S. Air Force, went into production in the early fifties. Their pump capacity was 2,300 liters (608 US gallons) per minute. Later on, these tanker semi-trailers were also exported to other countries.
And in 1956, seven years after the start of their truck production, DAF introduced the ‘standaard tankauto’ for the civilian market. A medium-duty 4×2 truck with a uniform tanker body, made by the company’s trailer division.
Straight from the factory, a DAF turnkey tanker truck from the mid-sixties, based on the A 1600 DD 425 chassis-cab. Powered by the 120 SAE-hp, naturally aspirated DD 575 diesel engine. The number 425 in the model designation refers to the truck’s 425 cm wheelbase. The tanker body could hold 7,500 liters of fuel (1,981 US gallons).
A presentation of the tanker product assortment from the same era. On the left, from top to bottom, semi-trailers for transporting gasoline, milk, and propane gas. In the center a fuel oil hauler. On the right, at the top, a detachable tanker truck unit for heating oil delivery (extra tanks could be coupled to the main unit).
The 4×2 standard tanker trucks were designated FA 1675 and FA 1675 A with a 300 liters per minute and a 500 liters per minute pump capacity, respectively. The letter F stands for fuel.
DAF FA 1675 – 7,500 liters (illustration by Charles Burki)
In 1967, the volume capacity of the ‘standaard tankauto’ was enlarged to 9,000 liters (2,378 US gallons). Its tank was divided in three compartments.
And this is one of them, Van Kessel’s 1969 DAF FA 1690 A. In the second half of the sixties, such a 1600-series chassis was rated at a gross vehicle weight of 12,700 kg (28,000 lbs).
Frog DAFs, that’s the nickname for these cabovers with the trapezium-shaped grille, introduced in 1959. Definitely still an evolution and modernization of the ‘UrDAF’.
Cabover yes, tilt cab no. To get access to the engine, the dog house can be opened. It pivots on its rear side and hooks up to a small metal bracket, mounted against the rear cab panel (visible in the picture).
Very well done, although I must add that a Van Kessel tanker truck would never come in such a flashy livery in the late sixties. It’s an old tankauto alright, yet wearing a fancy new outfit.
By the way, did you know that Hubert Jozef van Doorne was born in America?
Nice tanker trucks, styling like that has gone by the wayside with modern tankers, its all about reducing tare weight for extra capacity, I drove a flagship magazine featured modern tanker shiny stainless steel cladding over the insulation it was hard to clean and the flash cladding meant it couldnt be fully loaded legally it went 54,000kg with a regular 30,000 litres of milk and less carting wine which was its primary role, minor thing those Frogs are forward control trucks not COE,the engine is inside the cab, handy in winter.
‘Forward control’ and COE are synonyms.
Some more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cab_over
I find a similarity with the DKW F89 van, leaving aside the size differences.
Nice truck!.
For me it shouts loudly: “My father was French.”
Maybe his name was Monsieuer Renault 208?
Compare it yourself: