25 Years of DAF Owners Clubs

2005 saw the 25th Anniversary of the DAF Owners Club and DAF Club Nederland. Both clubs were set up by individuals
who realised that if they didn't do something, the chances are that DAF Cars would rapidly be forgotten. This would have
been a shame, as there is no doubt that DAF Cars, and its unique feature, the Variomatic transmission, are important in
the history of motoring, and in many respects, were ahead of their time.

The UK-based DAF Owners Club is very small in terms of membership and resources compared to DAF Club Nederland.
This is perhaps understandable, because DAF was The Netherlands' only mass home car maker. Although set up in 1980,
the two clubs only became aware of each other in 1983, when by pure chance, two members of DAF Club Nederland
happened to be in the UK on holiday, and visited a classic car show. In those days, DAF Owners Club had a few hundred
members, and quite often used to organise a display of DAFs at various classic car shows.

It is something of an achievement that the persistence of Steve Bidwell, Secretary and founder of the DAF Owners Club,
allowed the club to come into existence. This is because as well as the usual difficulties that anyone will have when trying
to set up something new, he had the added burden of a distinct lack of support from DAF Trucks UK. Out of courtesy,
Steve had written to DAF Trucks saying that he was thinking of starting an owners club for the cars, and he would like to
use the logo on letterheads etc. A very terse reply came from DAF Trucks UK basically saying that in their opinion, the
cars should be stamped out and they could not possibly be connected with such a venture. Fortunately, the little guy won!

The friendship that built up between members of the two clubs became very special. Things started to move quickly and in
1984, the clubs held their first joint meeting and get-together with over 20 British DAFs visiting the Netherlands. For many
of us, this was the first time that we had driven abroad, and the welcome that we received from DAF Club Nederland was
fantastic.

Then in 1985, the Clubs' celebrated their 5th
birthdays by holding a week-long gathering in
England. Around 40 mainly immaculate Dutch
DAFs ventured across the North Sea.

We just about took over Brands Hatch with a
combination of Dutch and British DAFs at a
classic car show. For once, we even made it
into the classic car Press!

The combined DAFs then headed up to
Derbyshire, where numerous events were held.

Most of our Dutch friends camped, and as you can see, were not afraid
to lay their stake to claim a spot. Some brought along their caravans,
and to see a DAF Daffodil towing a caravan was something that few of
us had experienced before!

DAF Club events are very, very friendly, and appeal to people of
all ages. Just look at the diverse ages of this groups taken at
Brands Hatch in 1985.

We had a break from joint events in 1986, but then in 1987, the
Brits went back across the water to Holland, where more of the
same was to be experienced.

The Ford at Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire was big
fun and a good way to clean the DAFs!

Perhaps understandably, as with any old car, there can be a bit of a thought in the mind along the lines of "What happens if
something breaks?" Well, we have had various mishaps such as broken drivebelts and exhausts. There is usually someone
very clever and technical around and necessary repairs are carried out. Look at these two examples:

Above was on the side of a French motorway in 1989
as members of the DAF Owners Club embarked on a
major trip through France to Mullhouse, Luxembourg,
Belgium, Holland. The blue 44's exhaust had just fallen
off, but we soon got it sorted.

The red 46 on the right needed to have a new drivebelt
fitted and this was done outside a pub in rural
Derbyshire.

Talking of pubs, joint events are a very good way of
building on Anglo/Dutch relationships, and as you can
see, our Dutch friends like to sample traditional English
fayre, as indeed we do as the Dutch when in Holland.

Other events that have taken place over the years were
the 10th birthday celebration in 1990 in England, which
amongst other things, featured a traditional English
garden tea party, with lots of cake and icecream!

In 1991, there was the amazing 1000 DAF Day in
Holland, which was quite a sight.

So we celebrated together from 29th May to 4th June 2005. We were
based in picturesque Warwickshire. Most visitors camped within the
grounds of Princethorpe College in the village of Princethorpe between
Coventry and Rugby.

There was a varied programme of events including organised runs through the countryside, barbecues, driving tests, visits to
museums such as Jaguar and the Motoring Heritage Centre at Gaydon. We also visited Coventry, Stratford on Avon and The
Cotswolds.

Lots of pictures from the 25th Anniversary
event now on line. Click the sign.