Post by kimf on May 3, 2018 18:22:38 GMT
Dear All,
During much of the nineties and into the noughties, my then girlfriend and I both drove Variomatics. She had a 1983 green two-door 340DL and a 1974 red 66SL coupe. I had a 1976 brown V66 GL estate and a really good condition 1986 metallic blue 3-door 340GL. We both really loved these cars and we belonged to this club and the Dutch club. We tried to attend as many club events as possible and have good memories of these events. All good things often come to an end and my girlfriend and I parted and with family pressures upon me, I no longer had sufficient time to be able to maintain all these cars. Both she and I bought newer vehicles which had much lower maintenance requirements. At the time, we used to visit Ev who lived to the south of Watford. He had many DAFs in various states of serviceability and also a van which I only saw on the road once or twice, and was probably when I saw him last. Does anyone remember this chap and perhaps might know what happened to his vast array of cars and second-hand spares?
So what happened to our cars? Firstly the green 340. I was driving this clockwise on the M25 near Chertsey and the engine blew up. We were on our way to Devon if I recall. We were recovered by the AA and restarted our journey south in another vehicle (Peugeot) the following day. The car was fairly good bodily and we felt that it was worth the while rebuilding the engine. The engine was removed, fully dismantled and thoroughly degreased. New cylinder liners and pistons were purchased but these were never fitted. I still have these today complete with all the other engine parts. The engineless car stayed in my drive for about 5 years before being sold to a local chap, probably for scrap.
My girlfriend lived on a narrow boat in Tring and needed a car to get to and from Hemel Hempstead station each day so she used my V66 for a few months. It was chocolate brown with a yellow bonnet and looked fairly shabby but it was MOT'd and fully street legal. She used to park it in a road with posh houses, and without parking restrictions, close to Hemel Hempstead station, and on more than one occasion, there was a note attached upon her return in the evening asking her not to park there. Of course, she was fully within her rights to park there so she ignored the notes. On one occasion there was a note from the police asking her to phone them which she did. The police agreed that the car was fully street legal, insured and taxed and told her that she could park wherever she chose to. After a couple of years of use, this vehicle needed chassis repairs to the rear spring hangers, all the tyres were worn out, and, it too stayed in my drive for about 5 years after which it was sold, 100% complete, also probably for scrap.
The red 66 coupe was to be her pride and joy and was bought as an MOT failure due to corrosion in the sills. One of the sills was cut off (drivers side I think) and this revealed a total horror of corroded metal behind. We started down the road of trying to buy inner and outer sill panels and soon realised that this was much more difficult than we ever imagined. We drove to Lancashire to visit a panel supplier who was selling surplus stock, but all the body panels that he had were for 33s, 44s and 55s. There didn't seem to be anything for 66 coupe. In any case he wanted to sell all the panels as a job lot and for cash. Firstly we didn't have the £500 he wanted, and he declined a credit card. We did not have a vehicle big enough to carry all the panels (at least fifty if I recall), and he declined the offer of me arranging other transport for a few weeks later. So we came away with nothing.
The next step was to visit the DCN members' shop in Geldrop near Eindhoven. We booked Eurostar via Brussels and two more trains, travelled on a Friday, stayed overnight in the nightclub district of Eindhoven, and travelled to Geldrop the next day. We were given a very warm welcome from the Dutch members and came away with some sill panels, both original and pattern. These panels were hand-carried with great difficulty back to London Waterloo on three trains along with our other luggage. To cut a long story short, that red car didn't get repaired either as we didn't have all the panels we needed and there was some question about some of the pattern parts we had. My girlfriend's interests had moved on with a need for higher-paid employment and the coupe remained in the dry in the garage for a further few years. In the end it was sold to a local chap who said he was going to restore it but we have not seen it since.
The last car was by immaculate 340GL which I used right up until about 2005. This was a lovely car but it was plaqued with dirt in the carburettor requiring the frequent blowing out of the jets. I eventually sidelined this car after many years faithful service as my new wife hated it unfortunately. It got sold locally and I don't know what became of it.
Turn the clock forward 10-20 years and I am having a clear out of all my DAF parts which remain. I have the dismantled engine from the green car plus all of the new panels that we bought from Holland. Can I invite readers to take a look at eBay user id BriscoesBazaar over the next few weeks and months as these parts will be listed there one by one. I have listed just one sill panel so far and the high starting price is my attempt to try and get back some of the expense of the Eurostar trip all those years ago. Other parts will be much cheaper. If no-one buys the inner sill panel with the holes in, then I will keep it until last, or until I find a member with a car that really needs it.
If anyone needs a dismantled and fully cleaned 1397 engine, then please get in touch. I remember that all the bolts have been meticulously packed up in separate bags and so it just needs putting back together plus possibly some bearing work, I cannot remember.
Thanks for reading, Kim from Dartford.
During much of the nineties and into the noughties, my then girlfriend and I both drove Variomatics. She had a 1983 green two-door 340DL and a 1974 red 66SL coupe. I had a 1976 brown V66 GL estate and a really good condition 1986 metallic blue 3-door 340GL. We both really loved these cars and we belonged to this club and the Dutch club. We tried to attend as many club events as possible and have good memories of these events. All good things often come to an end and my girlfriend and I parted and with family pressures upon me, I no longer had sufficient time to be able to maintain all these cars. Both she and I bought newer vehicles which had much lower maintenance requirements. At the time, we used to visit Ev who lived to the south of Watford. He had many DAFs in various states of serviceability and also a van which I only saw on the road once or twice, and was probably when I saw him last. Does anyone remember this chap and perhaps might know what happened to his vast array of cars and second-hand spares?
So what happened to our cars? Firstly the green 340. I was driving this clockwise on the M25 near Chertsey and the engine blew up. We were on our way to Devon if I recall. We were recovered by the AA and restarted our journey south in another vehicle (Peugeot) the following day. The car was fairly good bodily and we felt that it was worth the while rebuilding the engine. The engine was removed, fully dismantled and thoroughly degreased. New cylinder liners and pistons were purchased but these were never fitted. I still have these today complete with all the other engine parts. The engineless car stayed in my drive for about 5 years before being sold to a local chap, probably for scrap.
My girlfriend lived on a narrow boat in Tring and needed a car to get to and from Hemel Hempstead station each day so she used my V66 for a few months. It was chocolate brown with a yellow bonnet and looked fairly shabby but it was MOT'd and fully street legal. She used to park it in a road with posh houses, and without parking restrictions, close to Hemel Hempstead station, and on more than one occasion, there was a note attached upon her return in the evening asking her not to park there. Of course, she was fully within her rights to park there so she ignored the notes. On one occasion there was a note from the police asking her to phone them which she did. The police agreed that the car was fully street legal, insured and taxed and told her that she could park wherever she chose to. After a couple of years of use, this vehicle needed chassis repairs to the rear spring hangers, all the tyres were worn out, and, it too stayed in my drive for about 5 years after which it was sold, 100% complete, also probably for scrap.
The red 66 coupe was to be her pride and joy and was bought as an MOT failure due to corrosion in the sills. One of the sills was cut off (drivers side I think) and this revealed a total horror of corroded metal behind. We started down the road of trying to buy inner and outer sill panels and soon realised that this was much more difficult than we ever imagined. We drove to Lancashire to visit a panel supplier who was selling surplus stock, but all the body panels that he had were for 33s, 44s and 55s. There didn't seem to be anything for 66 coupe. In any case he wanted to sell all the panels as a job lot and for cash. Firstly we didn't have the £500 he wanted, and he declined a credit card. We did not have a vehicle big enough to carry all the panels (at least fifty if I recall), and he declined the offer of me arranging other transport for a few weeks later. So we came away with nothing.
The next step was to visit the DCN members' shop in Geldrop near Eindhoven. We booked Eurostar via Brussels and two more trains, travelled on a Friday, stayed overnight in the nightclub district of Eindhoven, and travelled to Geldrop the next day. We were given a very warm welcome from the Dutch members and came away with some sill panels, both original and pattern. These panels were hand-carried with great difficulty back to London Waterloo on three trains along with our other luggage. To cut a long story short, that red car didn't get repaired either as we didn't have all the panels we needed and there was some question about some of the pattern parts we had. My girlfriend's interests had moved on with a need for higher-paid employment and the coupe remained in the dry in the garage for a further few years. In the end it was sold to a local chap who said he was going to restore it but we have not seen it since.
The last car was by immaculate 340GL which I used right up until about 2005. This was a lovely car but it was plaqued with dirt in the carburettor requiring the frequent blowing out of the jets. I eventually sidelined this car after many years faithful service as my new wife hated it unfortunately. It got sold locally and I don't know what became of it.
Turn the clock forward 10-20 years and I am having a clear out of all my DAF parts which remain. I have the dismantled engine from the green car plus all of the new panels that we bought from Holland. Can I invite readers to take a look at eBay user id BriscoesBazaar over the next few weeks and months as these parts will be listed there one by one. I have listed just one sill panel so far and the high starting price is my attempt to try and get back some of the expense of the Eurostar trip all those years ago. Other parts will be much cheaper. If no-one buys the inner sill panel with the holes in, then I will keep it until last, or until I find a member with a car that really needs it.
If anyone needs a dismantled and fully cleaned 1397 engine, then please get in touch. I remember that all the bolts have been meticulously packed up in separate bags and so it just needs putting back together plus possibly some bearing work, I cannot remember.
Thanks for reading, Kim from Dartford.
