DAF- Dutch automobile company

THE HISTORY OF DAF

DAF TRUCKS DAF is a Dutch automobile company, with its main offices in Eindhoven. The DAF company was founded in 1932, when a machine construction company led by Huub and Wim van Doorne, changed its name to Van Doorne's Aanhangwagen Fabriek (Van Doorne's Trailer Factory), abbreviated DAF. In 1949, the company started producing trucks and buses, changing its name to Van Doorne's Automobiel Fabriek (Van Doorne's Automobile Factory). In 1958, DAF produced its first passenger car with a continuously variable automatic transmission, the Variomatic. The division of DAF producing passenger cars was sold to the Swedish company Volvo Cars in 1975, leaving DAF to concentrate on its successful line of trucks. The car factory is currently 100% owned by Mitsubishi and is known as Netherlands Car B.V or NedCar. HISTORY It all started on the 1st of April 1928 when Huub van Doorne founded the "Commanditaire Vennootschap Hub van Doorne´s Machinefabriek". WorkshopCo-founder and investor was Huenges, managing director of a brewery. Hub van Doorne had repaired Huenges´ car several times. Huenges was so pleased with his work that he offered to lend him money if he wanted to start for his own. Hub started to work in a small workshop on the grounds of the brewery. In 1932 the name of the company was changed to "Van Doorne´s Aanhangwagenfabriek NV". Four years later Huub´s younger brother Wim entered the company. Another four years later Huenges left. The Daf company was now completely in the hands of Huub and Wim van Doorne. After the second World War, luxury cars and trucks were very scarce. This meant a big opportunity for DAF. In 1949 they started the manufacturing of trucks and trailers. From 1957 onwards, they produced their own engines. The economical situation and the success of the DAF trucks made it possible for Huub van Doorne to realize his dream: production of a luxury car. He wanted to develop a car that was affordable by the common man. Experimental Variomatic He wanted to equip the car with an automatic gearbox, because he loved it in his Buick Dynaflow. But such a traditional transmission was too big and too complex to fit in a small car. In the winter of 1954 Huub van Doorne had the idea to use belts, just like many of the machines in the factory that were belt-driven. The first draughts date from February 1955. Huub van Doorne contemplated a 250 cc two-cylinder engine in the back to propel the back axle directly by means of belts. The idea was hard to realize in practice. The next proposal was a threeseater with a 250 cc two-cylinder in the front and the transmission underneath the backseat, driven the rear wheels. Huub liked this project, called 355, but his brother Wim thought the car was too small. They decided to build a fourseater, and project 455 got underway. In the meantime, the development of the variomatic transmission continued. In February 1956, an experimental version of it was built into a Lloyd LP400. First two production cars. This car was used for extensive testing, and because the outward appearance was unchanged, the car didn´t attract attention. In September 1955 the designer W. van den Brink presented a design for a fourseater. It was decided to maintain it´s lines, but to make it larger. On the 9th of September 1956 the first car was ready. In 1957 a batch of pre-production cars was built for publicity reasons mainly. The car was presented to the public on the Dutch car show (the AutoRAI) in February 1958. The reactions where overwhelming, 4.000 cars were ordered. On the 23rd of March, the first two production cars rolled of the assembly line. CARS All of DAF's early cars were fitted with the company's Variomatic transmission. The first passenger car, assigned the model number 600, created a sensation when a prototype was presented in 1958. The first 600s rolled off the production line in the following year. The next model was the 750, featuring a larger engine. Subsequently, DAF produced a type called the Daffodil, divided into three models assigned the numbers 30, 31 and 32. The latter designation was changed to 33 upon the release of the 44, a middle-class vehicle. Model 55 carried a bigger 1100cc engine made by Renault. The last two passenger cars released by DAF before the division's sale to Volvo were the 46 and 66 (although these continued being sold as Volvo 66). The Volvo 300 series, introduced in 1976 was in fact DAF-based and was first featured only with the Variomatic transmission. In the eighties it became apparent this had to change and eventually more then 1.3 million 340-series cars sold. PROTOTYPES AND SPECIAL CARS For a small company, DAF made a huge amount of prototypes. Also, famous coach builders like Michelotti and OSI made cars based on the DAF technique. For instance, the OSI City Car, which turned into a miniature. DAF's last prototype, the DAF 77 became the Volvo 343, which sold about 1.4 million units. TRUCKS DAF produced their first truck in 1949, the A30. This truck was upgraded in the following years. Their first attempt into the international market was a failure, the 2000DO. Their next truck was the 2600, which became a big seller. They also produced a so-called torpedo-front tractor. In the 1970s a new body style was introduced, which was upgraded into the late 1980s. DAF was also one of the first to introduce a Turbocharged Diesel engine into their trucks, which in these years became very evident with their 3600. In the 1980s, DAF competed in the Paris-Dakar rally, winning with Jan de Rooy in 1982, 1985 and 1987. In 1987 DAF merged with the Leyland Trucks division of Rover Group, and was floated on the Dutch stock exchange as DAF NV. The new company traded as LeylandDAF in the UK, and as DAF elsewhere. In 1988, two trucks were entered into the Dakar event. Jan de Rooy's truck was at a certain stage at the third place overall (!), beating the Peugeot 405 T16's on speed. The other truck, driver by Van Loevestijn was involved in a crash in which he died, and almost taking the lives of the other 2 occupants of the truck. DAF withdrew. Also in 1988, their successful 95 series was introduced, bringing DAF their first "truck of the year" title. This series of trucks was expanded, with the 85, 75, 65, 45 and later the 55. In 1993 DAF went bankrupt. A new company DAF Trucks appeared in the Netherlands as a result of a management buy-out of the Dutch operations, as did Leyland Trucks and LDV (vans) in the UK. DAF Trucks was acquired by PACCAR in 1996 (as was Leyland Trucks in 1998). At this stage, DAF had entered the European Truck Racing championship. The first couple of years they struggled, but in their last year, 1999, they almost won the championship. Partly because of the high costs involved in the ETRC, DAF stopped racing it. By then they introduced the succeeder to the 95, the 95XF, which became truck of the year. This series was expanded. In 2002 their entire range was renewed, with the LF, CF and XF range. The LF was the truck of the year 2002. SPORT DAF cars had the image of being slow. The company tried to change this image with entries in rallies and races, such as their entry in the London-Sydney Marathon. This did not lead to an increase in sales. They also made a F3 car. In 1993, a Williams was not allowed to race, because it had the DAF variomatic. If that car had raced, it would have been the first time a development in a car introduced on a roadcar before a racecar. DAF trucks started in the 1980s with the Dakar Rally, winning in 1982, 85 and 87. In the later years, they had a twin engine, with more than 1000 hp. In 1996 they started competing in the European Truck Race series, first not very successful, but by 1999 almost champion. To everyone's surprise, they withdrew. In 2002, DAF returned to the Paris-Dakar rally. With Jan de Rooy and his son Gerard. It was a learning year. In 2003 they went back, winning numerous stages, but Gerard crashed out and Jan had a lot of problems. In 2004 DAF also went back, powering six racetrucks. Jan en Gerard de Rooy, the team Tridec, The team Hans Bekx with 2 teams and the GINAF Rally Power team. In 2005 Hans Bekx almost became second overall in the truck division, before being thrown out of the list because of an irregularity. Something which the (especially Dutch) racing fans could not imagine.

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