Paul van Doorne and the DAF Variomatic Transmission

Monday, 04 July 2011 10:20

Taking my passion for a sniffing out a story and finding a good face for camera, the second in my tea and cake series I decided that Paul Van Doorne of the DAF marque would be a perfect choice.

So with Leica and notebook in hand I popped over to the Cathedral Paddock to find him and discover the reason as to why he is at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2011.

Paul's Grandfather started the DAF factory with his brother in 1928 in a workshop next to the De Valk Brewery in Eindhoven. Hub and Wim Van Doorne began turning out simple engineering products.

"He was a great inventor my grandfather, with 180 patents to his name, he was always available to find a solution for most intricate possibilities."

One of the Hub van Doorne's many creations was the Variomatic Transmission with rubber belts, introduced in 1956. This system was later to be used in the DAF 600 car in 1958. This very car, chassis number one, is here at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2011 on the Cartier lawn.

However, Paul has brought to Goodwood another DAF car, the DAF- Techno Formula 3, 1968 "Variomatic" automatic gearbox, which he is driving up the hill. This is the world's first 2-pedal automatic single seater racing car.

Raced by Mike Beckwith during the 1968 Formula 3 season, this model with the rubber belt and continuously variable transmission (CVT) proved to be particularly reliable for the wet Monaco circuit and came at the top of their class.

"I would like to take the car back to Monaco and race in the Grand Prix Historic de Monaco, but for now I am very privileged to be here at Goodwood, driving the car for the first time since 1968, showing it to an international audience".

After twenty years of searching Paul managed to find the 2LTR Camel DAF last year. (It raced in the Hill Climb Championships in Belgium achieving 160mph), for the Museum that Pauls father, Leo Van Doorne opened on the same site as the original workshop. The museum holds a vast collection of the DAF automobiles and other engineering delights.

We know DAF these days as a trucking company, which although owned now by Paccar USA, the same attention to engineering detail is maintained making
180 trucks a day, which makes the DAF truck one of the biggest selling haulage companies.

Paul is wonderfully emotional about sharing his family's achievements in the motoring industry, many of which are unknown to the contemporary world. For example in 1993 the F1 team Williams were testing with the steel belt variable transmission, something that was not to be continued through to the races, but played an important part of today's Formula One technology.

I leave the Cathedral paddock with a sense of knowing a special secret, something that Paul has allowed me to discover: The pure passion for engineering, for allowing the world to learn a sense of intrinsic industrialism.

Paul will not be taking the car to its limits on the hill, it's the only one. But for sure he will relish in every moment. By Lara Platman

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