GINAF
Encyclopedia
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
truck
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
manufacturer which produces trucks mainly for heavy duty off-road transport, construction and agricultural work. About 250 trucks are made each year in the company's factory in Veenendaal in the Netherlands. The company also has a service center for their trucks in the small Dutch town Ederveen.
History
The company was founded in 1948 by Wuf and Adrie van Ginkel and started out as a truck dealer. Modifications to trucks left over from the US Army such as the GMCGMC (General Motors division)
GMC is a manufacturer of trucks, vans, military vehicles, and SUVs marketed in North America and the Middle East by General Motors Company. In January 2007, GMC was GM's second-largest-selling North American vehicle division after Chevrolet, ahead of Pontiac....
Diamond were also done and these trucks were then sold. In the early 1960s the company became a true truck manufacturer and changed name to Van Ginkels Automobiel Fabriek, or GINAF for short. The company started producing their own trucks using mainly DAF
DAF Trucks
DAF Trucks NV is a Dutch truck manufacturing company and a division of PACCAR. Its headquarters and main plant are in Eindhoven. Cabs and axle assemblies are produced at its Westerlo plant in Belgium...
components. Because of this GINAF trucks often look similar to DAF trucks as the cabin used is usually the same as the ones used by DAF.
Since 1986 GINAF uses a hydropneumatic suspension
Suspension (vehicle)
Suspension is the term given to the system of springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its wheels. Suspension systems serve a dual purpose — contributing to the car's roadholding/handling and braking for good active safety and driving pleasure, and keeping vehicle occupants...
system (Hydro-pneumatisch veersysteem or HPVS in Dutch) for many of its trucks, which functions better under heavy loads and rough terrain compared to conventional suspension systems and also has a longer lifespan.
Special trucks
Special custom made trucks include firetrucksFire apparatus
A fire apparatus, fire engine, fire truck, or fire appliance is a vehicle designed to assist in fighting fires by transporting firefighters to the scene and providing them with access to the fire, along with water or other equipment...
, riot control
Riot control
Riot control refers to the measures used by police, military, or other security forces to control, disperse, and arrest civilians who are involved in a riot, demonstration, or protest. Law enforcement officers or soldiers have long used non-lethal weapons such as batons and whips to disperse crowds...
trucks, military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
trucks, garbage trucks and airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
fuel bowser
Bowser (tanker)
A bowser is a generic name for a tanker of various kinds.- Water :The term bowser is used by water companies in the United Kingdom to refer to mobile water tanks deployed to distribute fresh water in emergency situations where the normal system of piped distribution has broken down or is insufficient...
s. Several GINAF trucks also participate in the annual Dakar Rally
Dakar Rally
The Dakar Rally is an annual rally raid type of off-road automobile race, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation...
as both rally and service trucks, having done so since 1987, though the first GINAF to participate in the rally was labelled as being a DAF for marketing purposes. The amount of GINAF trucks participating in the rally has been on the rise since Dutch driver Hans Bekx entered a newly constructed GINAF truck in 2000.