Volvo 300-serie – De Daf die een Volvo was

On February 19, 1976, Volvo introduced the 300 Series. It was the first Volvo to be developed and built entirely in the Netherlands. The Swedes had high hopes for it: this car was going to put Volvo on the map in the popular mid-range segment. But that didn’t happen. The launch failed, sales were disastrous, and the Dutch Volvo division found itself in deep trouble. Until, in the early 1980s, the tide turned in an almost miraculous way, and the Volvo 300 Series became an absolute bestseller.

‘The DAF That Was a Volvo’ tells the story of the last DAF, which was launched as a Volvo. It is a story of high peaks and deep valleys, inextricably linked to the end of DAF as a passenger car manufacturer and the start of the company that would later become NedCar. ‘The DAF That Was a Volvo’ is thus more than a book about the Volvo 300 series; it is also a fascinating look behind the scenes of the Dutch automotive industry in the 1970s and 1980s. The book is based on interviews with those directly involved and richly illustrated with unique visual material.