Another classic coach that transported the visitors of the 2016 DAF Museum Days from the factory to the museum and back (as often as you wanted) was this 1966 DAF-Smit Joure. That’s a DAF chassis with a Smit body. Smit from Joure, in the northern Netherlands. In Friesland, to be exact. Where the all-black and strong Friesian horses come from.
Smit’s Rijtuig- en Wagenmakerij was founded by Jan Alexander Smit in 1917. The company built trailers, semi-trailers, car bodies, truck cabs, truck bodies and buses. After the Second World War the production of buses and coaches became their main business activity.
In 1996 DAF Bus, by then already owned by the VDL Group, took over Smit. In 1999 the Smit Joure activities came to an end. Another formerly independent bus manufacturer that was fully integrated into the company that we now know as VDL Bus & Coach.
The Smit body is built on a DAF MB 200 bus chassis with an underfloor mid-engine and a 5.50 m (18′) wheelbase. The coach weighs 9,550 kg (21,054 lbs) and its GVM is 16,300 kg (35,935 lbs). Seats for 46 passengers.
The MB 200 bus chassis was introduced in 1965. Until 1969 the engine was a 180 (SAE) hp Leyland O.680, an 11.1 liter 6-cylinder diesel. The Leyland 680 engine evolved into the 11.6 liter DAF 1160-series, introduced in 1968. In 1969/1970 the MB 200 chassis got the DKDL 1160 engine, also good for 180 (SAE) hp. At its introduction the chassis was available with a 5.50 m or 6.05 m wheelbase.
The coachbuilder’s signature, Smit from Joure. Not to be confused with coachbuilder Smit from Appingedam.
Our proud coach driver (touringcarchauffeur, in correct Dutch), ready to welcome his passengers.
The transmission is a synchromesh ZF 6-speed.
Let there be light ! Next time we’ll have a look at a less comfortable -more naked- classic city bus.
Splendid. Love the symmetrical front and rear ends; the whole upper roof section (lip) and the glass look to be identical. Good way to save some money.
Beautiful interior!
Like a Janus! And those little fins are nice eccentrics. They have a Farina look to them. That interior is like a club room with a skylight. Coming from the states, I was bowled over by the clean design of busses on Euro roads when I lived there for a year in 1971-’72. They seemed to be way ahead of what we had here, given their use for touring.
I too was trying to figure out where those finlets got their taillights from–they do look very Farina Cambridge-y, but the color pattern is wrong. Not Fiat 1800 either. I guess they could be designed specifically for that bus, but aren’t those sort of things usually borrowed from somewhere else?
Gorgeous. Actually makes the idea of bus travel seem appealing. 🙂
Love the tail-fin-esque taillights.
Compared to flying as it is today, bus travel seems more appealing in many ways.
Yup, love those big side windows, tartan curtains, and finned taillights. Obviously designed and built by people who cared.
You didn’t mention the heating system, or lack of one, which would leave all the passengers friesian? (Sorry I couldn’t resist, it’s an oldie but a goodie 🙂 )
Eat this Doug !
Looks like what they call “ring baloney” in Pennsylvania… my Dad’s favorite snack!
I saw an older DAF touring bus (not this old, probably 80-s era) hard at work ferrying folks on the M52 route from Novosibirsk to Biysk in Siberia this summer. It still had all of the livery of a French tour bus operator plastered on it. It’s fun to think the long and convoluted road a used bus must have taken for that sort of change of scenery!
Best ones are ex-Israeli Mercedes Benz coaches sold to a Moscow operator who never bothered changing anything other than paint, so that they were driving around with Hebrew route displays and in one case with “in IDF service” sign attached…
LOVE the curvy, baroque styling and those stubby fins! The tail-lights look just like the ones on a ’64 DKW F-12 roadster I used to own.
Happy Motoring, Mark
Where did the taillights come from? Assuming they weren’t made specially for these coaches.
They seem to be sourced from the DKW F12.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/DKW-F12-Baujahr1965_von_hinten.jpg
I’m ready for a ride! My favorite detail is the way the wipers are connected to exposed motors and mounted right through the windshield glass. The single wiper on my 29 Model A Ford used much the same system, but poked its shaft through the frame above the windshield and not through the glass itself. Crude but effective!
Great article! Very attractive bus – those small rear taillights are a treat. It’s interesting to see it using a mid-engined, underfloor configuration similar to Crown and ACF-Brill buses in the US. Thanks for the bus posts Johannes. Jim.
And thank you for the inspiration Jim ! I’m really enjoying writing these bus- and coach articles, three more to follow.
The MB 200 chassis was built from 1965 to 1988. Mainly used in public transport, so for city- and regional buses. But clearly also used for coach bodies. Below an MB 200 chassis with a Plaxton coach body from the UK. (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia / Quackdave)
Beautiful coach, thanks for the post.
I’ve been following and loving your coach articles. Any chance of including some Prevost coaches?
Sorry, not from me. No North-American buses and coaches over here. Certainly not at a classic DAF Feast… 🙂
You can ask Lincolnman above (see all his great bus articles published on Saturdays).
I’m sorry, I should have clarified that. It was meant as a general question, not necessarily to you in particular. Thanks for the reply!
I guess Smit is a fairly common name, because my first thought was the Smit tug and salvage company http://www.smit.com/ which might rate a “dockside classic” feature.
Historically the origin of the name Smit (or variations like Smits, Smidt, Smidts etc.) is a smith.
A coachbuilder with the name Smit sounds logical. An accountant Smit does not.
Love the vast windows that curve into the roof, and that fantastic interior. Looks like the way to tour in style!