DAF 46 Fire Engine 1974

DAF 46 Fire Engine 1974 by Autocult

A great love for small vehicles

DAF – `Van Doorne’s Automobiel Fabriek N.V.`, as the Dutch company is known in full – primarily served the market with heavy trucks and also entered the passenger car scene from 1959 to 1975. It entered the lower passenger car class with the Type 33, which became the successor 44 from 1966 and the Type 46 from November 1974.In the mid-1970s, the decision to purchase a small, flexible fire engine for the local fire department was probably also made by the fire department in the municipality of Voorst. The decision was made to build it from a DAF 46. The entire rear roof area was removed and the trunk lid was also cut open. A huge, round tank containing extinguishing water was inserted into the resulting gap. Due to the removal of the roof, both the driver and the passenger had to enjoy a convertible feeling – the two blue lights found just enough space on the frame of the windshield. It is not known how satisfied the “Brandweer” in Voorst was with its small fire engine or how long it was used, but in retrospect in can be said that with a full water tank, the handling certainly took some getting used to – this was because the center of gravity was very far back and also very high. In addition the water sloshing around in the barrel probably had a negative effect when cornering and lack of stability of the car due to the capping of the roof the possible exceeding of the total weight is not even worth thinking about at this point.