Dutch military car

[David Dunlop]

Hanno.

Do you think it influenced the small, German amphibious vehicle development at all?

David

[Colin Alford]

Hanno,

Given the two Registration plates visible (N-44943 and N-44945) is it possible that there was more than one prototype?

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Colin Alford

Given the two Registration plates visible (N-44943 and N-44945) is it possible that there was more than one prototype?

Colin,

Well spotted! Actually these registration plates are a type of trade plate as they have been spotted on other DAF vehicles under test at times before WW2.


N-44943 - also used on DAF Trado command car prototype:
N-44943_DAFMuseum_Trado_commandowagen_1936.jpg


N-44945 - also used on Ford tractor towing DAF trailer with automated container loader:
N-44945_NCAD_daf_2_1964.jpg

[David Dunlop]

So it could very well be one vehicle being tested at two different times with whatever registration plates were on hand.

Are those small bumperettes either side of the front plate, Hanno, or small ditching wheels?

David

[Lang]

David

They certainly look like "ditching wheels". A good idea and obviously of some use though these tiny ones would not be much help on a soft bank. You can see similar wheels and rollers on cross country vehicles and machinery going back well before WW1.

That pretty little 6 wheeler looks a much better proposition than the push-me pull-you 4 wheeler. But as Hanno said it was a proof of concept machine experimenting with several different ideas.

Lang

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Do you think it influenced the small, German amphibious vehicle development at all?

David,

I would have to map it against the timeline of the German developments by Porsche (KdF / Volkswagen) and Trippel. I think Hans Trippel had built his first amphibious car by the time DAF did. As the German designs were not as sophisticated as the DAF, I would put a bet on the MC139 prototype being scurried away by the German army to study it in detail and then display it as a captured enemy object. Other Dutch Army vehicles were on display in a large museum in Berlin, all being destroyed in 1945.