DAF 31 Daffodil Standard

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Within the segment of the former everyday car at the Concours d'élégance Paleis Het Loo, which was held many years ago, we found very special old-timers. One of them was this DAF 31 Daffodil. In standard trim. And from its last year of construction 1965. In that year this type was replaced by the DAF 32.

In 1963 the DAF 31 Daffodil came on the market. In appearance, this A-body DAF still had some features of its predecessors, the DAF 750 and the DAF 30 Daffodil. The round boot lid and the typical deep nose were kept. The 746 cc power source from the predecessors was also taken over, although the compression ratio was adjusted, among other things. The Variomatic also received an upgrade. The 31 type was also fitted with larger wheels. Externally, the subtly changed grille and the renewal of the passenger compartment stood out. The latter was more straightforward compared to the earlier A-body DAF types. Michelotti had occupied himself with its design. DAFs with this body structure are often called “33”, but it was only on the roll before the 1967 model year.

"DAF 31 Standard very rare type"

The DAF that we encountered in Apeldoorn is an 31 Standard. The nice thing is that we placed the DAF on our Facebook page. Connoisseur Wybe Zijlstra told us that this was a very rare type. The 31 was also offered as De Luxe and De Luxe Extra. Those were the more requested versions. "This is no ordinary Dafje, but a very rare 31 Standard, the basic version without chrome and with a green plastic dashboard. ”This variant of the 31 Daffodil series is indeed, we saw, stripped of any form of adornment.

Transition type from last year of construction

What makes our discovery in Apeldoorn special is that it has a date of first admission to 20 April 1965. At that time, DAF was again working with Michelotti to finalize the DAF 32 Daffodil, saying goodbye to the sunken front and the round boot lid. The 31 can therefore be seen as the representative of the transition phase of the A-body types. It makes the car that we saw in Apeldoorn extra interesting, certainly because it is - as Mr Zijlstra informed us - a rare version. It gives this austere representative of historic Dutch glory extra luster. Speaking of rare: In our country there are still 55 copies of all DAF 31 Daffodil types known.

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