Every first weekend of the month October the DAF Museum Days are held in Eindhoven. The main event is at the DAF plant’s premises, at a short distance from the DAF Museum. This year we had pleasant and sunny weather on both days, ideal conditions to enjoy the extensive and varied collection of old and new DAF vehicles.
We start with a 1955 DAF YA 328-Kronenburg fire truck. The DAF YA 328, a military truck, was introduced in the early fifties and has the famous 6×6 H-drive drivetrain.
Military fuel tanker, the 4×4 tractor is a 1960-1961 DAF YT 514. It was DAF’s first military vehicle with a diesel engine, a 165 hp 6 cylinder turbo diesel, type DS575.
Project truck, a 1956 DAF T1500 with a Leyland 0.350 engine and a Fuller transmission. Needs some work…
…Unlike this fully restored 1957 DAF T1300.
Two Frog DAFs, before and after a total makeover. On the left a 1970 DAF 1600, on the right a 1967 DAF 1600. Both with a 90 hp engine.
A 1969 DAF 2200, towing a drawbar trailer. Drawbar trailers with two or three axles are still widely used.
Originally this was a Swiss combination. Both the truck and the trailer have a three-way tipping system. The truck is a 1964 DAF 2300 with a 183 hp Leyland diesel engine. The trailer was built in 1971 by H. Leisinger Fahrzeugbau.
16,000 kg GVW for H. Leisinger’s dump trailer (35,000 lbs).
Last year this black and red rig drove from the Netherlands to China, and back. The tractor is a 1967 DAF 2400 with a 210 hp 11.1 liter diesel engine. The journey took over four months, the full story (in Dutch) is on oldtimer trotters, go to Reisverslag and click on a week number. Lots of pictures of the adventure on each page.
The DAF has a self-built sleeper compartment (very well done !) and the semi-trailer, a 1953 Coder from France, was converted into a fully furnished camper unit.
This kind of 4×4 cabover trucks is well suited for construction and municipal use. Equipped with a dump bed and a PTO driven crane, mounted on the truck’s chassis. Versatile and highly maneuverable trucks, this fine example is a 1974 DAF V1600 with a 110 hp diesel engine.
Wonderful camper conversion on a 1966 DAF Torpedo chassis. Trucks with a wooden body like this were originally used by moving companies and furniture manufacturers. This conventional DAF model, available as a 4×2 truck or tractor, was introduced in 1957.
Let the good times roll !
1961 DAF Torpedo flatbed truck. Its payload capacity is 5,400 kg (11,900 lbs).
Classic DAF bus semi-trailer, now a camper for the Verweij family, towed by a 1973 DAF 2600. Verweij is a loyal DAF customer, this tractor is painted in their bright orange and blue company colors.
Mr. Frans Slenders, the father of the current owner, travelled across Europe in this truck and trailer combination. One of my favorites of the show, this 1970 DAF 2600 with a 230 hp 11.6 liter diesel engine.
The trailer, also a DAF product, is rated at a GVW of 25,000 kg (55,000 lbs).
The Netherlands has a long and rich history of independent bus- and coachbuilders. A truckmaker supplied a rolling bus chassis and the coachbuilder made the body and interior. Above a 1964 DAF bus chassis (with a 100 hp engine) and a body built by Smit Joure.
The compact bus can seat 24 passengers.
Not only Cadillac had an Eldorado, the model name was also used by Smit Joure.
Next is this 1956 DAF chassis with a body from coachbuilder Smit Appingedam. No Smit Joure connection, by the way.
Seats for 35 passengers and one travel guide.
Under the engine cover a 83 hp Perkins diesel engine. DAF used Perkins and Leyland diesels before their own engine plant was opened in 1957. As a matter of fact, Leyland is the mother of DAF diesel engines.
On the left a 1961 city bus. Volvo chassis, ZABO body, DAF engine. The bus on the right is a 1968 DAF with a Domburg body.
The history of the owner of the splendid DAF-Domburg goes back to 1924; the company’s current name is HAVI Travel.
A 1966 DAF-Hainje city bus with a 179 hp diesel engine. This bus model was used in cities throughout the whole country.
Also from 1966, a narrow and compact DAF bus with a Verheul body.
It drove on the narrow roads and dikes north of Amsterdam.
The type of truck body we see here is called a tapissière, this one is owned by moving company Saan.
Chassis by DAF, body by coachbuilder Visser. The 126 hp truck is 40 years old.
The conventional, heavy-duty N2800 series was introduced in 1980. It was developed primarily for the African market and it was only available as a 6×4 truck or tractor. DAF used the cab of the Magirus-Deutz Eckhauber. Above a 1985 heavy-haulage tractor.
1981 DAF N2800Â recovery truck, nickname De Buffel (The Buffalo).
One of the N2800’s co-workers, a 1987 DAF 3600 ATi (Advanced Turbo Intercooling).
This N2800 tractor had an easy ride; it’s parked on a low bed semi-trailer.
Typically 6×2 truck- and tractor chassis have a liftable tag axle in Europe.
The most common big rig configuration in Europe, a 4×2 tractor towing a semi-trailer with three axles and six super single tires. The tractor is a 2012 DAF CF85 with a 460 hp 12.9 liter engine.
The XF is DAF’s top model, this rig hauls two 20ft shipping containers. The second axle of the truck is also steerable.
The DAF tows a Pacton trailer. A combination like this has a legal GVWR of 50,000 kg (110,000 lbs) in the Netherlands.
We end the show with one of the buses that was used to transport the visiters from the DAF Museum to the DAF plant, and vice versa. A 1988 DAF with a Den Oudsten body, an articulated bus with a 261 hp engine. This bright yellow color was used on all public transport buses throughout the country, they surely stood out.
Fabulous posting; thanks for all the great photos too!
Over the top and a feast for the eyes! 10 years in the trucking industry and I’ve never seen an over the road passenger trailer behind a day cab!
So neat and different .
-Nate
That DAF container truck has an unusual twin steer arrangement eight wheelers are a common configuration here but not like that, single drive DAF tractor units are a rare sight here most are 6×4 or 8×4 and four axle self steer trailers are becoming more common than threes now gross weights have increased. Cool show.
What you also often see is this configuration, with three steerable axles, for maximum maneuverability combined with a high payload capacity.
I wonder if twin steer trucks were, or perhaps still are, illegal in the USA? We certainly never had any of them. There have been 4WS cars and light trucks, but they are all of the type where the rear wheels turn slightly in the opposite direction.
Then there are articulated ladder fire engines with rear tiller steering, but that’s a different thing entirely.
That’s an interesting question. Something like this Kenworth that I found on the website of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers. Or is this a Canadian truck ?
Some great looking trucks and buses. Makes most of the trucks and buses we got in the US appear really bland in comparison. Nice write up.
Interesting that the wipers are installed in the windshield on many of those buses.. Never seen anything like that before. Some of those truck cabs look the same as mid 50s American Ford trucks, with the wrap around windshields.
The trucks had them too.
Johannes, this is too much eye-candy!
My favorites are the frogs. They look like they will chew up anything that’s in their way. Darth Vader has nothing on them.
Thanks, Wolfgang.
Funny how perspectives differ. To me the Frog DAFs and the Torpedo come off as friendly and kind.
Whereas the 2000 DO-series, introduced in the late fifties, seems to be the most Armageddon-proof. It probably is, with its old-school, naturally aspirated, big diesel. A truck with an attitude…
What a wonderful tour! So many great old trucks and buses here. Thanks so much for sharing them all; love every one of them. 🙂
I was quite happy to see a row of old and more recent buses. My favorite bus, or coach in this case, was the 1968 DAF-Domburg. Mainly because it already hints at the luxurious coaches as we know them now.
A peek through its window:
I’m a big fan of the Cab Over Engine models. Thinking about restoring a Ford…
Thanks as always Johannes, some interesting machinery there but surely the most unusual is the semi-trailer bus. Interesting also to see the specialised narrow buses, plus some of the creations that trucking people come up with for retirement traveling.
Originally those bus semi-trailers were used by the Dutch Railways and large companies, like Philips, to transport their employees.
Below a DAF Torpedo tractor with a bus semi-trailer for Philips, also from Eindhoven. (Source: oudedaf.nl)
Yes, I have seen photos before but they are quite uncommon compared to ‘normal’ buses. Probably the most prominent ones in Australia were a small fleet (123) used in Sydney and later other towns in New South Wales from the 1930’s through to the 1970’s, originally with White prime movers (tractor units), I think the last of those were built in the late 1940s.
Insane shapes. There’s not an uninteresting cab design is this whole selection. The buses are fantastic but I really like the little 56 T1500 cab. I’d drive it around as is.
Also at the show, you’ll like it.
A 1970 DAF 555 (based on the 55 Marathon Coupe) with a 150+ hp 1,550 cc Renault Alpine engine.
The more I look at the boxy 2600, the more I think it’s my favourite cab shape. I’m getting a great perspective from these pieces.
DAF’s goal was to develop a long-distance truck with maximum interior dimensions and visibility (driver comfort), given the overall length restrictions in Europe at that time (early sixties).
That truck was the 1962 2600-series. It was a landmark in European long distance hauling. Finally there was a truckmaker that thought of the driver too.
These are nice trucks by DAF this one is in Foden flavour but other than the CAT engine and 18sp RoadRanger is pure DAF
Nice picture, that’s clearly an older model DAF 85, called the CF-series now. DAF’s midsize model.
DAF never built its own truck transmissions. ZF has been DAF’s main transmission supplier since many years. Although Fullers were also used in Europe, like their famous 13-speed transmissions.
Below, on the left, DAF’s current Euro CF model. I don’t know if it’s available yet in NZ and Australia. Parked next to it is the flagship, the XF with the biggest cab.
Here’s one, a DAF 85 8×4 dump truck.