DAF Trucks

Increased driving power, incredible fuel savings and great bodybuilder friendliness. It all adds up to market-leading transport efficiency. Whether your transport needs are long haul, distribution or construction. Whether you want a rigid or a tractor unit with two, three or four axles. Our DAF trucks offer the best solution tailored to every application. Your DAF dealer guides you through the selection process using state-of-the-art software to ensure that specifications exactly match your needs. 

DAF Trucks is a Dutch truck manufacturing company and a division of Paccar. DAF originally stood for van Doorne's Aanhangwagen Fabriek. Its headquarters and main plant are in Eindhoven. Cabs and axle assemblies are produced at its Westerlo plant in Belgium. Some of the truck models sold with the DAF brand are designed and built by Leyland Trucks at its Leyland plant in the United Kingdom.

In 1928, Hubert "Hub" van Doorne founded the company Commanditaire Vennootschap Hub van Doorne's Machinefabriek. His co-founder and investor was A. H. Huenges, managing director of a brewery. Van Doorne had repaired Huenges' car several times, and Huenges, pleased with his work, offered to finance him in business. Hub started to work in a small workshop on the grounds of the brewery.

In 1932, the company, by then run by Hub and his brother, Wim van Doorne, changed its name to Van Doorne's Aanhangwagen Fabriek (Van Doorne's Trailer Factory), abbreviated to DAF. Huenges left the company in 1936 and the DAF company was then completely in the hands of the van Doorne brothers.

DAF developed the Trado conversions to convert 4×2 Ford trucks to an off-road 6×4 drive. One of DAF's few armoured vehicles, the M39 Pantserwagen, used developments of this Trado drivetrain. M39 production came too late for World War II – in the invasion of the Netherlands (1940) only three saw combat.

After World War II luxury cars and trucks were very scarce. This meant a big opportunity for DAF. In 1949, the company started making trucks, trailers and buses, changing its name to Van Doorne's Automobiel Fabriek (Van Doorne's Automobile Factory). The first lorry model was the DAF A30.

Through the 1950s, DAF was a major supplier to the re-equipping of the Dutch Army's softskin vehicles, with models such as the DAF YA-126 and DAF YA-328 'Dikke Daf'. These used the all-wheel drive H-drive developed from the Trado conversions.

In late 1954, Hub van Doorne had the idea to use belt driven continuously variable transmissions, like so many belt-driven machines in factories, to drive road vehicles. In 1955, DAF produced its first draft of a car belt drive system. Over the next few years, the design was developed and refined. In February 1958, DAF demonstrated a small belt-driven four-seater car at the Dutch car show (the AutoRAI).

The public reaction was very positive and 4,000 cars were ordered. In 1959, DAF started selling the world's first car with a continuously variable transmission, the small four seater DAF 600. This was the first of a series of models to be released in subsequent years, including the DAF 33, DAF 44, DAF 55 and DAF 66, all using the innovative Variomatic transmission system.

In 1967, DAF opened a new plant in Born for car production. The 44 was the first model to be produced there.

In 1972, International Harvester of Chicago bought a 33% stake in DAF (with the Dutch government holding 25% and the Van Doorne family holding the remaining 42%), forming a joint venture. This agreement lasted until 1981. DAF sold its passenger car division, along with what is now the Nedcar factory in Born, in 1975 to the Swedish company Volvo Cars, leaving DAF to concentrate on its successful line of trucks.

In 1987, DAF merged with the Leyland Trucks division of Rover Group (which included Freight Rover), and in June 1989 was floated on the Dutch and London Stock Exchanges as DAF NV.[3] The new company traded as Leyland DAF in the United Kingdom, and as DAF elsewhere.

DAF Bus was split off in 1990 to become a part of United Bus.[4] Following difficulties in the British market, After DAF NV was placed under administration in February 1993, the Dutch operations were sold in a management buyout with the business branded DAF Trucks.

In October 1996 Paccar acquired DAF Trucks.[5] DAF Trucks and Leyland Trucks were rejoined in June 1998, when Paccar also acquired Leyland Trucks.[6][7][8] On 9 January 2012, Paccar installed the cornerstone of the new plant in the city of Ponta Grossa, in the state of Paraná, Brazil.

DAF now has a net worth of 1.7 billion dollars

Car business

 

DAF 600

 

DAF 33 Break

 

1975 DAF 44

 

DAF 46

The first passenger car, the DAF 600, was presented to the public in February 1958. It featured unitary steel construction, with a front mounted, air cooled two cylinder boxer engine driving the rear wheels through a centrifugal clutch and the Variomatic CVT transmission. The way this was constructed eliminated the need for a differential, with the drivebelts taking up the difference of speed in turns.

This acted as a limited slip differential. The car had independent suspension all around, with MacPherson struts and a transverse leaf spring at the front, and a coil sprung semi trailing arm design at the rear. The first 600s rolled off the production line in the following year. The next model was the 750, featuring a larger 749 cc (45.7 cu in) twin.

Later, DAF produced a more luxurious type called the Daffodil, divided into three models assigned the numbers DAF 30, DAF 31 and DAF 32. The designation 32 was changed to 33 upon the 1966 release of the 44, a larger middle class vehicle designed by Giovanni Michelotti.

The 44 featured a completely new design aesthetically as well as mechanically, but was of the same layout as the "A types" (the 600, 750, 30, 31, 32 and 33), with the main difference being its 850 cc (52 cu in) two cylinder engine, and its full swingaxle rear axle design as opposed to the A type semi trailing arms.

The 1968 DAF 55 carried a bigger water cooled 1,108 cc (67.6 cu in) OHV four cylinder engine derived from the Renault 8 Cleon engine. Its body design was altered from the 44 by a new front which accommodated the longer engine and radiator, bigger taillights, and a more plush interior. The front suspension was changed from a transverse leaf spring to MacPherson struts with torsion springs and an antiroll bar.

The DAF 66 was introduced as a successor to the 55. It featured new, boxy styling of the front, and a new rear axle design. The two drive belts now powered a differential, and the axle was changed from a swingaxle design to a leaf sprung de Dion axle. It was a major improvement over the (tricky) handling of the swing axles of the earlier 33, 44 and 55 models.

Volvo purchased a 33 percent stake in DAF in December 1972, with the intent of taking a larger interest.[9][self-published source?] They increased their holdings to 75% on 1 January 1975, taking over the company and the Nedcar plant. Volvo dropped the 33 and 44 models, and later rebadged the DAF 66 as the Volvo 66, with bigger bumpers and a safety steering wheel.

The DAF 46 was developed with Volvo's assistance, and was basically a 44 with the rear axle of a 66 and a single belt Variomatic (half the 66's transmission). A big weakness of this system is that a failed drive belt would cripple the car. The last DAF design, codenamed P900, initially intended to be the DAF 77, was developed during the transition to Volvo ownership and was ultimately launched as the Volvo 300 series in 1976, firstly as the Volvo 343 three door hatchback with the Variomatic transmission.

After initial slow sales, the range was expanded into the 340/360, with a five-door variant and the availability of manual transmission, and the 340/360 range became a sales success, eventually surpassing 1.3 million units by the time production ceased in 1991. The subsequent Volvo 440/460/480 and the first generation S40/V40 models were also made at the Nedcar plant, until Volvo sold its interest to Mitsubishi Motors in 2001, marking the end of Volvo's involvement with the former DAF plant after almost thirty years. Today, the plant is now owned by VDL Nedcar, and contract manufactures certain Mini models for BMW.

Prototypes and special cars

For a small company, DAF made a huge number of prototypes. Also, famous coachbuilders like Giovanni Michelotti and OSI made cars based on DAF mechanicals. For instance, the OSI City Car, which turned into a miniature. There was also Michelotti's "Shellette" beach car, which was later modified to use Fiat 850 underpinnings. The Dutch Royal Family used one of these at their Porto Ercole summer residence.

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