80 years of innovative transport solutions

• April
• 10

6:48 am Trucks

With a modern product range, a leading range of services behind the product and a professional dealer network with more than 1,000 sales and service points in Europe, DAF is one of the leading truck manufacturers in Europe. Its position is built on 80 years of heritage. On 1 April 1928 DAF’s founder, Hub van Doorne, started a small engineering business, ‘Hub van Doorne, Machinefabriek en Reparatie-inrichting’. Together with his brother Wim he laid the foundations of DAF as a leading truck manufacturer. And the basis for a rich history characterised by innovative transport solutions.

Hub van Doorne, was born on 1 January 1900 in America – a small village in Limburg, the Netherlands. He was the eldest son of a village black smith. In the mid nineteen twenties, he was foreman in the engineering works of Sjef Mandigers in Eindhoven. There he comes into contact with Mr Huenges, the owner of the Coolen brewery and ice factory who has a Stearns-Knight automobile with a sleeve valve engine. Whenever it breaks down, Hub van Doorne proves to be the only one who can get it going again. Mr Huenges is so impressed by the technical capabilities of Hub van Doorne that he offers help in setting up a business for him. On 1 April 1928 Mr Huenges makes NLG 10,000 available for this purpose.

New activities
The engineering business begins with four employees in a small workshop in a corner of the brewery. The activities focus on welding, engineering and forging work, in particular for the canal boats calling at Eindhoven and for Philips, for which products such as balustrades and bicycle stands were made. Within a year, the first expansion is already a fact and there are 32 people on the payroll. The Great Depression in the nineteen thirties forces the young company, now co-managed by Hub’s younger brother Wim, to look for new activities. It is decided to start manufacturing trailers and semi-trailers. In 1933, when electric welding of heavy load-bearing constructions is still in a very early stage, Hub van Doorne and his engineering assistant Mr Baghuis start fabricating complete chassis by welding. The result is a featherweight semi-trailer which attracts the attention of everyone in the trade.