DAF Museum

5613 DA Eindhoven, Netherlands (Nordbrabant)

DAF's history goes back to 1928, when the brothers Hub and Wim van Doorne laid the foundations for what has now become DAF Trucks. What started as a small engineering business and blacksmith workshop, developed into the fastest-growing truck manufacturing business in Europe.

A museum to spend hours in

A tour of the DAF Museum will take visitors from one surprise to the next. The inventiveness that has been characteristic for DAF vehicles from 1928 till the present day will even captivate visitors who have no special knowledge of the subject. The ground floor accommodates a pleasant village square, with shops from the 1930s, a welcoming pub, a period garage and, not to be forgotten, a replica of the Van Doornes' office. From here you can stroll around the museum to discover the many aspects of the DAF product.

The trucks are displayed downstairs and special attention is paid to the milestones in DAF's history. A special section is devoted to engines and it gives a good idea of the developments that have taken place over the years.

The upstairs gallery holds an extraordinary collection of cars, among which a number of interesting prototypes that were not taken into production.

DAF

A visit to the DAF Museum means a tour through time, past the historical heritage of Doorne's Trailer Factory. From the establishment of the company by the brothers Hub and Wim van Doorne up to and including the most modern trucks that roll off the DAF production line in the Eindhoven factories.

The tour starts where the van Doorne brothers had their first workshop. The workshop was really a large smithy that has now been completely restored and shows the tools that were used at the time.

The history of the DAF car takes one past a selection of historical vehicles with plenty of attention for DAF's revolutionary drive gear, the Variomatic, popularly known as 'the smart gear stick'.

Cut-away models on the components gallery show the many possibilities of the step-less drive gear, which is applied worldwide to the present day.

Special cars

In the past DAF cars also performed successfully in motor sport competitions and the museum exhibits a number of unique models, such one of the two DAFs 55 in which Rob Slotemaker and David van Lennep completed the gruelling London-to-Sydney Marathon. A tremendous feat that was repeated 25 years later, in 1993. Visitors can also admire race cars that are equipped with the Variomatic transmission.

Besides, there are a great number of prototypes of cars that were never taken into production. For example, the royal beach car that Michelotti designed on the basis of a DAF 32 to serve as a beach run-about at Porte Ercole, the Italian summer residence of the Dutch Royal Family. And, of course, the 'mobile raincoat', a three-wheeler that Hub van Doorne built at home and that was small enough to be parked in the family's hallway.

Trucks

There are always about 40 trucks from the extensive collection on display, from one of the first trucks from 1949 to modern vehicles.

Of course, special attention is paid to trucks from the past: lorries, - including a concrete mixer and a breakdown lorry -, buses and special vehicles, such as army trucks and fire engines. And those interested in rally sport will be pleased to find that a number of the legendary juggernauts which Jan de Rooy drove in several Paris-Dakar Rallies are on permanent display.

DAF SILURO, the recent addition to the Museum collection

The DAF Museum has been more than happy with an exceptional acquisition. The Siluro show model, built on the platform of a DAF 55, was given a place of honour in the Museum. 'Siluro' is Italian for 'torpedo'.

Wikipedia:
In het museum zijn vooral veel DAF-voertuigen tentoongesteld, waaronder sportwagens en prototypen. Veel van deze prototypen zijn auto's die nooit in productie zijn genomen.
Een voorbeeld is de koninklijke strandauto, die door Giovanni Michelotti werd ontworpen op basis van een DAF Daffodil 31 en als strandwagen dienstdeed in Porto Ercole.
Ook voor de grote collectie van vrachtwagens is een deel van het museum ingericht.
Centraal in dit deel van het museum staan de trucks van 'toen',
waaronder vrachtauto's,
autobussen en
speciale voertuigen zoals legertrucks,
brandweerwagens,
een betonmixer en
een takelwagen.
Er is ook een aantal race- en rallytrucks tentoongesteld waaronder de Turbo-Twin, de winnende rallytruck van Jan de Rooy uit 1987.
Een van de laatste aanwinsten is de "koninklijke bus" van de Nederlandse koninklijke familie.

Op de eerste verdieping van het museum is een overzicht van de DAF-personenautohistorie te bezichtigen. Er staan bijna honderd verschillende DAF-personenauto's en voertuigen die daarvan zijn afgeleid.
Ook de geschiedenis van de Variomatic oftewel "het pientere pookje" is te zien tot en met de CVT die anno 2007 door vele automerken als automatische versnellingsbak wordt gebruikt.
Inmiddels zijn er van deze CVT ruim 13 miljoen geproduceerd. De Duwbandenfabriek is inmiddels overgegaan naar Bosch.

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