At the beginning of the year, DAF announced that it was looking for the oldest truck of its brand used for commercial purposes. After searching on an international scale, DAF revealed that it finally found what it was looking for. A 50-year-old truck, despite the passage of years, still serves its owners well.
The trucks submitted for the contest had to meet two basic criteria. First, the vehicle had to be used for commercial transport. Secondly, the truck had to be used regularly.
After many months of searching, the oldest DAF truck was found in the Netherlands, in the village of Bakel. Model A1600 is the property of a company run by father and son – Frits and Nicky Hoefnagels. Their DAF was produced in 1968, or 50 years ago! The owners use a truck to transport parts of one of the attractions of the amusement park. As they admit, the truck is used almost every day.
DAF vehicles are used to transport our „funfair”. They were new when they became part of our fleet. The luna park goes to the warehouse during the winter, but from early spring to late autumn, we are on the road and transport this powerful construction from one amusement park to another,” explains Frits.
This is not the only treasure in their fleet
Father and son submitted their truck to the contest via Facebook. They sent pictures that show not only the winning model but also the other rare vehicles that are in their fleet.
In addition to the 2800 models from 1975 and 1600 from 1971, we also have two copies of the A1600. One of DAF’s „kikkers” (referred to in the Dutch language because of the similarity to the frog) comes from 1968 and the second from 1969. They didn’t give us a reduced fare,” Hoefnagels jokes.
The search for the oldest truck was part of the celebrations of the company’s 90th anniversary.
Photo: DAF