Details of Cars

DAF 45/55: light trucks from the Leyland Roadrunner

DAF

DAF 45 light truck
A DAF 45 light truck. Photo by Guillaume Vachey from Chalon sur Saone, France, CC0 via Wikimedia Commons.

The DAF 45/55 was a series of light trucks that DAF sold from 1987 until 2001. It began as the DAF 600/800/1000, built on the Leyland Roadrunner that came into the company with the Leyland takeover, and it was replaced by the DAF LF.

DAF 45/55 at a glance

DAF 45/55 key facts
Maker DAF, Eindhoven
Production 1987–2001
First sold as DAF 600, 800 and 1000
Basis Leyland Roadrunner
Came with the 1987 takeover of Leyland
Renamed DAF 45 after the introduction of the DAF 95
DAF 55 added 1993, with the DAF 65
Class light distribution trucks
Replaced by DAF LF in 2001

Based on one source: the Dutch Wikipedia article on the DAF 45/55 series.

History of the DAF 45/55

The Roadrunner arrives

DAF 45.130 truck
A DAF 45.130 in the Netherlands. Photo by Joost J. Bakker from IJmuiden, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

The story of the 45/55 starts with Leyland. When DAF took over Leyland in 1987 it gained the Roadrunner, a modern light truck that Leyland itself had only introduced in the 1980s. DAF needed such a vehicle: its own light range, the 500/700/900/1100/1300 series, was ageing, and the Roadrunner gave the company a contemporary cab and chassis overnight.

600, 800, 1000 — and then 45

At first DAF sold the Roadrunner-derived trucks as the 600, 800 and 1000, slotting them in above the older series. DAF was in the middle of modernising its whole range, having only recently ended its long association with International Harvester, and a year after the Leyland takeover it introduced the heavy DAF 95. That launch brought a new numbering scheme, and the 600/800/1000 became the DAF 45.

The 55 and the end of the line

The 55 did not appear until 1993, when DAF introduced the DAF 65 as a light distribution truck; the 55 then filled the gap between the 45 and the 65. The series remained in production until 2001, when the newly developed DAF LF replaced it and took over the light end of the range.

Design and features

  • Leyland roots: the cab and chassis came from the Leyland Roadrunner.
  • Three initial sizes: sold as the DAF 600, 800 and 1000 before the renaming.
  • New numbering: the 45 name arrived with the DAF 95 in 1988.
  • Long life: built from 1987 to 2001, then replaced by the LF.

DAF 45/55 versions

  • DAF 600/800/1000: the first names of the series, 1987 onwards.
  • DAF 45: the renamed light model.
  • DAF 55: added in 1993 between the 45 and the 65.
  • DAF LF: the 2001 replacement.

The 45/55 followed the DAF 500/700/900/1100/1300 series and sat below the DAF 95. Its successor was the DAF LF. More models are in the DAF collection.

Sources

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