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History of Dutch Motor Car / Automobile Manufacturers |
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8.8 Holland
8.8.1. Spyker
In 1914 the company merged with the Dutch Aircraft Factory N.V and became known as the Dutch Car and Aircraft company.
The first model produced by the new company was the 3,560 cc, four-cylinder Spyker 13/30 C1 (1916-21). Is the 1916 date correct ?
In 1922 the company was acquired by Spyker's British distributor and renamed “Spyker Automobielfabriek”.
The last Spyker model produced was the luxury 5,742 cc, six-cylinder, 30/40 C4 model (1920-25). In 1922 it broke the 24-hour speed record, averaging 119 kph (74 mph).
By the time the company ceased trading in 1926 it is estimated that about 2,000 cars had been produced. From 1920 the company also produced trucks and buses.
Note: In 1921 there were between 8,000 and 10,000 cars in Holland (and 20,000 motorcycles) and three car manufacturers.
In 1999 “Spyker Cars N.V” was formed and in 2000 they introduced the hand-built, two-seat, C8 Spyder. The 4,172 cc, 298 kW (400 hp), car has a top speed of 187 mph (300 kph).
In addition to the C8 Spyder, models available in 2007 included the C8 Laviolette, the 5,998 cc C12 Spyder, the D12 “Peking-to-Paris” SUV and the C12 Zagato - a car with a top speed of 195 mph (310 kph).
- In 1928 two brothers, Huub and Wim van Doorne started to build trailers. In 1932 the company was named Van Doorne's Aanhangwagen (trailer) Fabriek.
- In 1949, when the company started making buses and trucks, the name was changed to Van Doorne's Automobiel Fabriek (DAF).
- In 1955 the brothers decided to produce their first car and the following year a prototype was made, with a small pre-production batch following in 1957.
- The DAF 600 was shown at the 1958 Dutch car show and over 3,000 were ordered.
- It had two doors, a 590 cc engine, an automatic transmission designed by DAF (called Variomatic) and a top speed of nearly 90 kph (56 mph).
- The first cars were delivered in 1959.
- Between 1959 and 1975, when DAF’s car division was sold to Volvo, the company produced in 1961 the DAF 750, a more powerful variant of the 600, the DAF 33 (1967-74), DAF 44 (1966-74), DAF 55 (1967-72) and finally the DAF 66 from 1971.
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